


The Late Bloomer

by lethos



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26857957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethos/pseuds/lethos
Summary: Lethos Reilly was 14 years old when he discovered that he was a wizard. Follow him on his journey as he enters Hogwarts at the same time as Harry, and see how the inclusion of the Ravenclaw affects the overall plot line.This story is planned to progress through all the years, leading up to the fight with Voldemort.Lethos, the MC of this fic WILL NOT be a 'hero like' main character. The initial part of this fic will focus more on the day-to-day life of the Hogwarts student that ISNT Harry Potter. He will however, have alot of interactions with Harry and others mentioned in the original stories :)Do leave a comment if you'd like, or just drop me a kudos if you enjoy the story! It would really mean alot!This fanfic is also posted in HEX under my username Lethos.
Comments: 40
Kudos: 7





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first piece of work that I am publishing for others to read :) I am open to constructive feedback and am looking forward to continue building this piece of the world of Hogwarts :)

Lethos Reilly stared at the ceiling of his room. For the first time in his life, he was unsure of what to do.  
He thought back to the conversation he had with the orphanage's owner, barely an hour prior. The orphanage he had stayed for practically his entire life was closing down. Since he didn't have any possible adoption options, they had told him that he would be transferred to another orphanage in the neighbouring city.

Lethos sighed. The prospect of going to another orphanage was daunting. This was the orphanage he had grown up in. He was the oldest ward, and had already established good relationships with both the children and the caretakers. No one picked on him or caused any trouble here. Transferring to another orphanage though? That would be bad. He would have to relearn the hierarchy of the place, deal with all the ragging of being the new guy…

Of course, he had an alternate option. He knew the state of the system. If he chose to just leave and strike out on his own, it would be very likely that he would just be left alone as long as he didn’t do anything illegal. The system just didn't have the resources to hunt down children who ran away from orphanages. But that option was not feasible at all. Maybe if he were a year or two older, he might be able to make it on his own, but he was only fourteen now. Not many places would be willing to hire him, and no way would he be able to get living space of his own. He shook his head. Maybe going out to clear his head would be a better idea.

The library was always his favourite place to go when he was stressed. Reading was his favorite pastime, and being surrounded by books gave him a sense of security. Entering the library, he smiled at the librarian, who smiled back.

"Any new books come in, Joyce?" He asked. As a regular, he knew Joyce would usually keep aside some new reads for him as they came in.

She shook her head. "Sorry Lethos. Nothing new recently. But you can check out the donation corner! Quite a few second hand books have just been donated and you may want to check it out."

He grinned and nodded, heading straight to the back of the library. He knew where the donation shelf was, as he loved browsing the books in that section. He had managed to come across a handful of obscure books that the library usually didn't have, since his library was a small one, and only tended to stock just the more popular books.

As he glanced through the books, his eyes were immediately drawn to a well used book. He knew all second hand books had the chance of being tattered, but this was different. The spine of the book was still kept intact, while the pages were well worn. This book was clearly one that was old and well used, and yet it had been cared for quite abit. For some reason the book really shone out to him.

He pulled it out and glanced at the cover. At first, it seemed to be blank, but as he blinked, he saw the title of the book plastered across the front: "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Must have been a trick of the eyes, he thought.  
Flipping through the pages, he groaned. Not only was it a children's book, it seemed to be filled with fairy tales focused on magic. The words wizards and witches popped out at him, making him shake his head. There is no such thing as magic, he told himself. No use in believing things that won't help you in this world.

He made to put the book back into the shelf, but for some reason, his gaze continued to linger on the book. Sighing, he tucked it under his arm. Maybe I could pass this on to one of the kids in the orphanage. I'm tired of hearing about snow white and the seven dwarves anyway.

Grabbing a few more books, he headed back to the orphanage, planning to submerge himself in a night of heavy duty reading.

"Lethos!"  
Lethos turned to face the matron who had called out his name.

"Someone is at the reception, asking about you."  
He blinked twice. No one had ever come to look for him before. He knew both his parents had died early in his life, and with no other relatives, he was raised here in the orphanage. And there was absolutely no way that out of the blue someone would be attempting to adopt him.  


Curious, he rushed to the reception room. A girl, looking about seventeen, was seated on the couch. She was pretty, in a way, with brown eyes and brown hair, but he had no clue about why she would be looking for him.

"Hi, I'm Lethos, heard you were looking for me?" He said as he walked closer.

The girl grinned sheepishly. "Hi, I heard you took back a couple of books from the library that day? From the donation shelf. My dad kinda accidentally donated a book of my mum's that was supposed to be donated, and I was wondering if you still happened to have it. The book should be quite old and flimsy, but not in too bad a condition."

Lethos nodded. "Sounds like the one I took back. The Tales of Beedle the Bard yes? I still have it with…" he trailed off as he saw the girl's eyes open wide. "Is… that not the correct book?"

The girl shook her head. "No no, that is the correct book." She said. "But… are you… how old are you though?"

Finding that to be an odd question, he shrugged. “Fourteen” he said. “What’s that got to do with anything though?”

The girl paused for a moment. When she started speaking again, she spoke slowly and carefully. “Lethos, have you ever… made something happen that wasn’t supposed to happen? Like things breaking without you touching them, something like that?”

Lethos was thrown a loop. To him, the girl just went from mildly interesting to full on confusing. “No, what do you mean by that?” he asked.

The girl shifted again. “Something like you thinking about a place, and suddenly you’re there, or maybe you wishing you had something and suddenly you have it.. You know, like something magical?” She seemed to wince as she said that.

Lethos shook his head. “There is no such thing as magic.” he said. “It’s only useful for people who wish to dive into a delusion to convince themselves they can get out of doing work by wishing it away.” He knew he was being tough with the girl, but since before he could remember, that concept had been a core part of his belief.

The girl, however, seemed to take it personally. She frowned. “Magic isn’t as useless as you think…” she muttered under her breath.

Lethos froze. His lack of filter had made him say something tactless once again. He lowered his head slightly. “Look, I really didnt mean to offend you. I just… have strong opinions on the subject of magic, and I didnt mean to verbalise it so harshly. Let me go grab the book and then I’ll pass it to you.”

The girl smiled. “Thanks for saying that. Let me follow you in, then, so you won’t have to walk back out. I’m curious to see what’s here anyway.” Lethos nodded and turned, leading the way in.

As he entered his room, he took a moment to glance around to ensure nothing embarrassing was in view, before he turned to search his shelf for the book. “It’s not here” he frowned.

“Found it!” He turned to see the girl, still standing at his door, holding the book.

“How...” He thought hard. He was sure that the book had been on the shelves. There was no way she could have gotten it, unless it flew over to her. He could see her grinning as she watched him think. Clearly, a trick was being played.

“Maybe i used some magic to bring it over to me?” She smirked.

For a moment, he seemed to genuinely consider the thought. But then, like a mantra, the thought popped into his head again: “There is no such thing as magic.” Lethos’ head started to hurt. “No, I must have left it near the door or something.” He said. “Where’d you find it?”

She shrugged. Flipping the book open, she turned the pages toward him. “Just for curiosity’s sake, could you please read the title of this story for me?”

“Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump.” He said, confused. 

“You really can read it.” She said in wonder.

Lethos was getting annoyed, but his headache was starting to get worse. “Obviously I can.” He said to her. “I’m sure you can too.”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, before she suddenly turned away from him. “Thanks for the book then. I’m sure my mum would be happy to have it back.”

Lethos sighed, glad that it was over. His headache was beginning to get to the point where all he wanted was to lie down. “No worries then.” He told her. “Maybe I could walk you out, erm.... I’m so sorry, I just realised I never asked for your name.”

She turned back to him, bright blue eyes twinkling. His brain seemed to scream at him as he registered the fact that she had brown eyes when he first met her. Then his eyes focused on her bright pink hair. “I’m Tonks,” she said as she smiled mischievously, clearly seeing the confusion in his eyes, “and I think that I wouldn’t mind staying around to convince you a little about your thoughts on how real magic actually is.”

It was that moment that his brain decided that the effort was too much. The facts in front of him clashed violently with the mantra repeating over and over again in his mind. The last thing he remembered was seeing bright pink hair bouncing towards him as his vision blurred and his legs gave way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOO how did you find the first chapter? Next chapter we find out more about this mysterious person(just kidding we all know who it is)
> 
> Leave a comment if you have questions or any thing you feel like you have any criticism about!


	2. I'm a Wizard!

"Utterly irresponsible! I cannot believe you!"  
"Look, I panicked, I didn't realise he would just faint like that."  
"You didn't have any proof! You put yourself at risk of going against the Statue of Secrecy!"  
“He could read the book! You told me you charmed it to not be visible to Muggles!”

The sounds of an argument were the first thing Lethos heard as he stirred.  
Groaning, he looked up to see the girl who come to the orphanage earlier, arguing with an older woman. A man sat off to the side, clearly uncomfortable and not willing to get involved in the fight.

The movement of Lethos looking up caused everyone in the room to look at him. The woman was the first to react. “Lethos, right? How are you feeling? My name is Andromeda. You know my daughter, Nymphadora, and that's my husband Ted in the back.”

By this time, he had managed to clear the drowsiness, and his awareness of the situation came back to him. “I’m… not in the orphanage right now…” He said slowly… “Where have you brought me to?” He noticed Tonks glance down sheepishly as he asked the question.

The woman in front of him, Andromeda, ignored his question. Instead, she shoved a weirdly carved stick into his hand. Immediately, he felt a warm sensation flowing from the stick through his whole body. Stunned, he looked at it. “How is it heating up like that?” He asked aloud.

Andromeda’s eyes sparkled at his question. “I just need you to do something for me, before we answer all your questions. Can you just repeat the following word out loud to me? Lumos.”

A frown crossed Lethos’ brow. He had basically been kidnapped, brought to some unknown location and now these people were basically forcing him to do random things… However, something about Andromeda’s eyes made him realise that the best course of action for him right now would be to follow her instructions.

“Lumos,” He said. Immediately, the stick in front of him lit up with a white light. It was rather weak, but it was clearly there. Internally, he started to question what was happening. What kind of mechanism could cause it? Where was the light bulb?

He was so fixated on the stick that he missed the sighs of relief from both Andromeda and Tonks. “How do I turn this off?” He blurted out, the hunger to find out more about the stick now fueling his question. “And what is this?”

“Just say the word Nox.” Andromeda laughed. Lethos noticed that she was suddenly alot friendlier in her tone. “That, my friend, is a toy wand that used to belong to Dora here. It is specially charmed so that the magic in children are channeled to power the Lumos spell, even when the child hasn’t learned how to cast it. I used it to train Dora on how to use a wand before she got hers. We just used it now to confirm that you are, indeed, magical and not a Muggle. A muggle would not have been able to use this. You did.”

There was a pause as Lethos tried to absorb the information he had just been told. Immediately, the mantra in his head caused him to speak. “But, magic isn’t real!”

Tonks rolled her eyes. “See what I told you Mum? It was that attitude that made me want to show him that it was real.” Andromeda shot a fierce stare at her daughter. “Levitate the water here.” She said.

Tonks shrugged and pointed her wand at a nearby cup of water. Immediately, it rose up into the air, floating towards Lethos and hovering just in front of him. His eyes boggled as he saw it.

“Go on, take it.” Andromeda urged. Lethos reached forward, passing his hands over and below the cup to check from strings, before taking it into his hands. He nervously took a sip from it, convinced now that somehow or another, he must be in a dream.

Finally, he looked at all three members of the family. “I need abit of time to process all this.” He said. “Can I have just a little time alone?”

Andromeda hesitated for a moment, before speaking. “We can give you that time, here in this room, but for now, we can’t let you leave… there are a few things that we need to set straight with you before you go, and someone I would like you to meet first, but I also need you to be in the right state of mind before she arrives. Why not you stay here in this room. Dora will bring you some food in the meantime, and any questions you have, she will do her best to answer. Otherwise, she will leave you alone and in about an hour or so, we will come back in here?”

Lethos nodded. His mind was in overdrive as he tried to understand everything that had happened. “Can I hold onto this?” He asked, holding up the toy wand. Andromeda nodded and turning, she ushered the rest out of the room.

Lethos spent the next few minutes turning the light on the wand on and off, doing his best to analyse and explain everything that had happened in scientific terms. He had just given up when Tonks carefully walked in, holding a tray of food.

“I’m really sorry.” She said, looking sheepish. “I didn’t expect everything to unfold like this.”

Lethos looked up at her. “Show me another spell” was the only thing he said. The two spent the rest of the hour talking and casting spells. After the first spell she showed him, something in his mind just clicked and he started to accept the existence of magic. Pleased that he was now open to the idea, Tonks allowed Lethos to use her wand, guiding him in casting simple spells like Lumos and the levitation spell. By the end of the hour, Lethos was already able to lift small objects.

They also spent the hour talking about Hogwarts. Tonks had recently graduated from the school and she had many stories of her adventures there. She also talked a little about her life and her skills as a metamorphmagus. When asked, she also told Lethos about the Statue of Secrecy and why her mum had done what she had done.

They were interrupted when Andromeda peeked into the room. “Lethos, I think it’s time we talked? I mentioned just now I wanted you to talk to someone, would it be alright for me to bring her in?”

Lethos nodded. Andromeda walked into the room, followed by an older lady who looked stern and fierce. “Professor McGonagall!” Tonks exclaimed! “She teaches us Transfiguration in Hogwarts!”

“I also am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Ms Tonks,” McGonagall responded, before turning to Lethos. “Mr Reilly, it is nice to meet you. My friend, Andromeda, reached out to me and I was amazed to hear about your situation. I understand that it is only today that you discovered that you were magical? Aside from the toy that I understand Andromeda used to test you, I hope you do not mind if I perform a few tests of my own?”

Tonks tossed her wand over to Lethos. “Show her, Lethos!” Smiling, Lethos pointed the wand at a nearby paper, speaking out the incantation. The paper floated up into the air. McGonagall allowed her eyebrow to rise in surprise. “Indeed, it seems that you are able to perform magic.” A frown crossed her face. “I really don’t understand at all how we could have missed this. Have you had any cases of accidental magic?”

Lethos shrugged. He and Tonks had discussed this earlier. “As far as I am aware, I have never once caused anything weird or unexplainable to happen. My earliest memories are from when I was already in the orphanage, and I have no recollection of anything that can be magical happening on or around me. I may be biased though. As I told Nymph-” He trailed off as he saw the glare from Tonks. She had already warned him about using her first name. “As I told Tonks earlier, I truly and genuinely believed that magic was not real even up to just an hour ago, and it is only when I experienced all this that I have come to accept it.”

McGonagall looked grim. “What you say does indeed give me an idea of how you fell through the cracks then. We can only detect magic that has been discharged, and our instruments are calibrated to look out for bouts of magic that are cast without a wand. If you truly haven’t had any accidental discharges, I am not surprised we would not have noticed. That you haven’t, however, is curious in itself. Magic is not known to be suppressed in such a way. I am truly glad that you had been found before… It doesn’t matter.” She turned to smile at Lethos.

“Regardless of the circumstances, I am also here in my capacity of Deputy Headmistress to inform you about Hogwarts and offer you your letter of acceptance. Of course, since I have only just confirmed your magic, I do not have the letter on me on hand, but I will definitely get it sent to you by owl by tomorrow. The only problem is…”

“My age right?” Lethos said. McGonagall nodded. “This situation has not happened in a long time, since the time of the founders. The Headmaster is informed of the situation of course, and he has left me to decide the course of action. We have two main choices. The first option was what I was going to recommend earlier. You can come in as if you are a new student, and start in Year One with the students. You are born on the 14th of July, 1977 correct? You will be three years older than the other students, but considering you are muggleborn, I originally felt that would have been best. However, I am surprised that with barely an hour of practice, you are already able to perform the levitation charm, with another person’s wand, even. This means that you have a great aptitude for magic, and I do feel that more care should be taken to see where you will be placed. As such, I would like to propose something.”

She turned to Andromeda. “Andromeda, will you and Ted be willing to help train this young boy? Just to help him catch up with the necessary skills needed for him to be able to support himself at Hogwarts.”

Andromeda nodded. “Dora can help too, while she’s waiting for the academy to get back to her.”

McGonagall smiled, turning back to Lethos. “The school term starts on the 1st of September. If you are willing, Andromeda and her family can integrate you into our world. In a month’s time, in the mid August, I will come by and test you on what you have learned. If you pass that, I can allow you to come in as a Year 3 student. That is the year that other students will be picking their electives, so at least in that aspect, you won’t be very far behind them. You being born in July is also helpful as you will be only a few months apart from some in that year.”

A light of hope sparked with Lethos. “It’s a boarding school right?” He asked excitedly. “That means that I can stay in the school throughout the year?”

“Students will be required to stay through the year. Coming back for the winter holidays is optional, though you will have to come back to stay during the summer holidays.” She held her hand up as Lethos was about to speak. “If the question is about the fees, you do not have to worry about it. The school prides itself on being able to provide a magical education for ALL magical children, and so we do have a fund for students such as yourself who are muggleborn. If you are willing, I will allow Andromeda to stand in on my behalf and access these funds to ensure you get the necessary equipment and robes for school.”

Lethos immediately nodded. This was a god-send to him. A full education and even lodging for most part of the year. “I am in!” He exclaimed. “Studying is my forte. If I have the books, I can promise you that I will reach whatever standard you need me to be.”

The adults beamed at the enthusiasm of the young man. Seeing his smiling face, Tonks was able to let go of the internal guilt she was feeling over her unintended kidnap.

After asking more questions about his current situation and giving him some information about the procedure, McGonagall took her leave. At the request of Andromeda, Lethos stayed for dinner, where he bombarded the three of them with questions about the wizarding world. In turn, he answered their questions about his life at the orphanage, sharing with them his worries about the orphanage closing down and how he was glad that with this, he would be more secure going forward.

The day ended when he suddenly had a yawn overcome him in the middle of a conversation. Andromeda immediately called it a night, ordering Tonks to send Lethos back to the orphanage, which Lethos was pleased to find out was barely a fifteen minutes walk away. He bid farewell to the adults, thanking them when they told him to come over at anytime.

That night, Lethos lay in his bed. The events of the day had exhausted him, but compared to a few days back, he was now hopeful. I’m a wizard. He thought to himself one last time, before drifting to sleep.


	3. Diagon Alley!

The next few days went by in a blur for Lethos. As promised, the letter of acceptance into Hogwarts arrived the next day, brought to him by a brown owl that gave him a fright when it flew in through his open window.

He brought the letter over to the Tonks’ household, where he spent the day discussing with Tonks and Andromeda about the study schedule he would have to follow. They decided that they would have Lethos learn a little about the different electives before deciding on which to take. They would only head to Diagon Alley to purchase his books only after deciding on the electives.

Over the next month, Lethos spent his days pouring over the books loaned to him by Tonks. Thankfully, she was a hoarder, and so had kept all her textbooks from her years in Hogwarts. Andromeda loaned him a spare wand she kept around so that he could practice spell casting (He was told that in general, those who were not of age were generally not allowed to cast spells outside of Hogwarts, but since the trace had yet to be cast on Lethos, they let him practice indoors and away from prying eyes.)

Tonks was home most of the time, and was the person put in charge of demonstrating wand movements and incantations. Within the first day, it was clear to everyone present that Lethos learned faster from reading books than from any of their instructions. It was only with practical aspects that he required help, or if he had questions that he couldn't find the answer for from the textbook. She also used her powers to introduce Lethos to the different professors by transforming into each of them and giving a self introduction in their personality. The only one she didn't know too well was the new teacher who would be joining, Professor Quirrell.

Andromeda would usually return home by the late afternoon. Lethos discovered that she originally was from a prominent wizarding family, and he was constantly asking her about wizarding traditions and the relationships between the different wizarding families.

After the initial introduction, Lethos warmed up to Ted immediately. He had not played an active role in the initial encounter Lethos had with his family, but he made the effort to speak to Lethos the next time he came over. As a fellow muggleborn, Ted was the best equipped to help Lethos with the adjustment to the Wizarding world. He told Lethos about the societal norms that he could no longer take for granted and the kind of prejudice he would face in Hogwarts as a muggleborn. The two usually ended up comparing differences in the magical and muggle world, contemplating the ways in which the different worlds could benefit from a little bit of mixing.

With regards to his studies, Lethos realised that he excelled most in the less practical subjects. He enjoyed History of Magic immensely(Tonks blanched at that) and found he was very good at Potions(Tonks was also very negative about the subject). He turned out to be decent at Transfiguration, though he had to work harder to cast spells found in Charms and Defense against the Dark Arts.  
With regards to his electives, he very quickly settled on Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes. He was initially interested in Muggle Studies, but a conversation with Ted, who had taken it in the past, immediately persuaded him otherwise.

He was highly interested in the practical aspect of ancient runes, which Tonks had originally told him would be only explored in later years. This did not deter him, however, and he ended up spending the most time on learning and memorising runes with the intention of testing out inscribing them eventually.

Almost immediately, the end of the month came around, and it was time for him to get tested. McGonagall was kind, reminding him that he did not have to feel pressured, since he could always start in Year 1. He astonished her once again by casting not only Year 1 and 2 spells, but some Year 3 spells that he had forced himself to learn ahead of time. She was especially impressed at the level of the Transfiguration spells he cast.

"The quality of the Duro spell you cast is impressive." She commented. "If you were in class, I would be awarding you 5 points for sure." 

After which was a short question and answer section where she asked him about different topics from his year 1 and 2 subjects, which he was able to answer correctly and confidently. After about an hour, she was satisfied.

"Andromeda, you did a great job of tutoring him." McGonagall said. Andromeda shook her head. "We barely did anything. Lethos studied everything on his own from Dora's old textbooks. I believe the only help we had to give him was with wand movements."

Lethos smiled sheepishly. "Well you all did help a lot by answering any questions I had. It helped me to save time from having to research some of the answers on my own."

McGonagall nodded. "Alright then, we will have no issues at all accepting you straight into third year. The only exception being that our Potions professor has insisted that you meet him to brew a Year 2 potion prior to the start of classes. Apparently, he doesn't want anyone getting 'a free ride' through the classes. You have chosen your electives as well, I assume?"

Lethos nodded. "No issues with the potions. I know how to brew the Year 2 potions already, and I have tested a few using Tonks' school cauldron. For my electives, I am looking at Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."

McGonagall nodded. "Here is the book list for your additional classes then. I have already arranged with Andromeda about the funds for your school equipment, so don't worry too much about it. I am looking forward to seeing how you perform in school."

The next day was the day they planned to go to Diagon Alley. After hearing about the place from Tonks, Lethos was raring to go.  
He was so excited that he ended up arriving at their house half an hour before time. Andromeda was up already, but Tonks was still asleep. Ted would not be joining them as he was not able to take time off from work.

After an enriching conversation with Andromeda about magical transportation and how they would be heading to Diagon Alley, Tonks was finally ready. Taking a handful of Floo powder, Tonks instructed Lethos on how to travel via Floo network, before demonstrating by stepping into the fireplace, shouting out “Diagon Alley” as she threw down the powder. Excited, Lethos grabbed hold of a handful of powder, following the steps perfectly. As the green flames faded away, he stepped out to find himself in a place he could only describe as from a different world.

Dozens of witches and wizards walked up and down the streets in robes, some brandishing wands and brooms. There were owls flying in the bright daylight just above, and many of the shophouses along the street were shops he knew he would never find anywhere else. Names like Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, Eeylops Owl Emporium and Quality Quidditch Supplies jumped out at him, names he knew would make him do a double take if he had seen the names anywhere else.

“If this stuns you, wait till you see Hogwarts." Tonks said from beside him. "Hopefully they will make you take the boats with the first years. It's probably the best view of the castle you'll have the chance to see."

Andromeda joined them a couple of seconds later, stepping out of the Floo Network. "First stop, Gringotts. I need to help you set up a bank account."

Setting up a bank account in Gringotts was fast. Lethos was intrigued to meet the goblins, after all, they were the first non-human beings he encountered, but his studies into the History of Magic reminded him of how easily offended they got, and he made sure he was respectful and polite the entire time. Shortly after taking some blood to ensure the magic of the vault would be keyed to his magic, and assigning Andromeda to be a guarantor for himself, they walked out of Gringotts, with Lethos tucking his newly acquired vault key into his bag.

"How the school fund is set up, is that every year, some funds are deposited into your Gringotts account. The amount should be enough for you to purchase the correct books for school, as well as some leeway to buy any perishables like potion ingredients that you may need. Thankfully all your meals will be provided at school, but there is also a small amount given as an allowance for spending, though I advise you not to go too wild. I know you’ve told us about the amount of muggle money you have saved over the years. You can exchange them here in Gringotts, but at the moment I would advise you to just keep to the allowance given by the school for now.” She then spent a moment teaching Lethos about Galleons, Sickles and Knuts and their conversions, before handing over some to him. “I will pass you the rest of this year’s allowance before you head off to Hogwarts, but for today, feel free to use this amount on anything that strikes your fancy.”

The next location on their agenda was Ollivanders, to get Lethos a wand. Lethos found Ollivander annoying, and it took them almost an hour of trying out different wands in order to get one that Ollivander was pleased with. “The wand chooses the wizard, after all!” He kept repeating. In the end, the wand that Lethos came away with was a sixteen and a half inch yew wand with a dragon heartstring core. The academic inside him was interested in finding out how the different types of wood and cores affected the wand, but his experience with Ollivander made him decide to research the information on his own rather than ask the man, whom he was sure would go into his own world once again.

The rest of the time he spent in Diagon Alley went by smoothly. He managed to get all the ingredients needed for potions(he made sure to get plenty extra in case the Potions professor made him prepare more than one potion), and with Andromeda’s help, he was easily able to get hold of all his books. Both Tonks and Andromeda left him alone to take his measurements at Madame Malkins, and he and Tonks spent a long time in Gambol and Japes talking about different types of pranks. Tonks described a pair of twins who had been the brothers of her yearmate Charlie, who would likely be in the same year as Lethos. He looked forward to seeing the types of pranks they would come up with. He kept far away from anything with Quidditch though. Although the idea of flying up in the air appealed to him, he had never been one for sport anyway and the descriptions Tonks had of Quidditch did nothing to appeal to him.

They ended the day at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. By then, Ted had finished work and he travelled down to meet them. The four had a nice meal along the streets of Diagon Alley and were just relaxing as Tonks regaled Ted with the stories of their shopping for the day. Before long, all four of them were engaged in a hearty discussion.

“I still cannot believe that all this started because I accidentally gave away that old storybook of yours!” Ted laughed. Andromeda glared at him, still annoyed he had done so. Lethos grinned.

“I for one, am glad that you did. We may not have figured out why I was never able to discharge any accidental magic, but if not for Tonk’s interference I think I may have remained…” Lethos shook his head. “Regardless, I truly am grateful to all three of you, for introducing me to this world, and allowing me to learn so much from you as well.”

Andromeda’s face turned grim. “Lethos, we do know about the orphanage…” Lethos’ face fell. This was one topic he had intentionally wanted to avoid with the three of them. “We know that being at Hogwarts has helped with most of the year, but what is your plan for the summer holidays?”

Lethos looked down. “I have some cash stashed away… I was planning to find a place to rent, just for the two to three months until I can head back to Hogwarts.” Andromeda and Ted exchanged a look.

“Lethos, after Ted and I have known about the orphanage since the beginning. It’s not a secret that the place is closing down, and we realised that must have been the reason for your questions about boarding in Hogwarts. We have talked about this at length, and we actually have a proposal to offer you.” Lethos looked up, confused. “You know the room that you have been practicing and studying in is pretty much our spare bedroom. It’s usually reserved for when we have guests and the like, but Ted and I rarely have anyone over nowadays, and we generally felt that the room would be better utilised if we opened it up for rent. And wouldn’t you know it, right in front of me is someone I wouldn’t mind renting to at all. What do you say to that?”

Lethos was speechless. After a long pause, all he could do was to nod. Andromeda smiled. “You can store whatever you don’t want to bring over to Hogwarts, and honestly speaking, since you won’t actually be staying with us till next June, I think we can just deal with the issue of the rent then. Honestly, I’m not too keen on collecting rent, but if you end up excelling at Runes, which I suspect you will from what I have seen, you can help Ted with his work over the summer holidays instead of paying rent.”

Lethos broke out into a huge grin as he reached forward to embrace each member of the family. It was Tonks, however, that asked the question he had foremost in his mind. “So, when can he move in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The Hogwarts Express!
> 
> Leave a comment if you have questions or any thing you feel like you have any criticism about!


	4. The Hogwarts Express

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was intended to cover both the Hogwarts Express and the Sorting, but it ended up being tooooo long so i decided to split them up.

The first of September came faster than he could have ever expected. Within a week from the trip to Diagon Alley, Lethos had completely moved into the Tonks family house. To ensure that things were smoothed over on the muggle’s side, Andromeda took a trip down to the orphanage on the day Lethos was moving out, systematically obliviating and modifying the memories of the employees there, making them believe that Lethos had managed to be adopted.

Once he moved into the Tonks’ house, Lethos did his best to maximise his time before the start of school. Now that he had gotten the books for his actual classes, he started reading through them with a passion, only stopping to find whoever was free to show him the wand movements or pronunciation to cast a spell he couldn't figure out from the books.

He also ended up working closely with Ted. Lethos was pleased to find out that Ted had an assortment of small pet projects where he aimed to bring in some muggle advancements or technology and integrate them into the wizarding world. “The main issue”, he told Lethos, “is that electrical items just go wonky as soon as magic comes near it. That’s why we don’t have televisions or telephones, and wizards are still stuck using owls to send letters to each other! I just heard only last year of this network that the muggles are building that can allow them to send information across the world in just seconds! Just imagine the possibilities if we could combine that with magic!”

He showed Lethos how to use magic to etch runes into objects. “Unless they have changed the syllabus, which I doubt, they will only be teaching you how to read and interpret runes in your first couple of years. While that is an important piece of knowledge to have, it causes most people to not realise the practical application of runes! Inscribing the right rune with the right amount of magic allows the rune to take on the traits of the spell, allowing us to experiment with much much more.”

Ted’s main focus was to somehow utilise runes to simulate telephones, but though he used the Wizarding Wireless Network as a base to start figuring out the problem, he had not gone very far. Lethos, who was proving to be more adept at Runes as time passed, promised to continue working on it.

On the first of September, the three members of the Tonks family brought Lethos to the King’s Cross. He was understandably nervous, but Tonks helped to calm him down by constantly pointing out weird things about the people around them. “Look at that man, I think he’s wearing a toupee!”

Lethos smiled at her to let her know he appreciated her efforts, before looking back at the letter from Hogwarts, which he had pulled out to confirm the platform once again. “Okay, now that we are here, will you finally tell me where this magical platform is? We’re between 9 and 10 and I don't see a nine and three quarters…”

As soon as he spoke, an evil grin spread across Tonks’ face. “It’s just behind you!” she said as she pushed him. Stumbling backwards, he stretched out to stabilise himself on the wall he knew was behind him, but to his horror, found nothing and continued tumbling back. Seconds later, Tonks, followed by Andromeda and Ted, walked through the barrier, an amused look on their faces as they glanced down at the very flustered teen as he lay sprawled on the ground.

“Har har, very funny”, Lethos said as he got to his feet. Grinning in apology, Tonks helped to brush off some dirt on his back. “I couldn't help it. You were just standing right in front of it and you didn’t even notice it.” She waved her hand in the direction of a nearby bright red train. “Welcome to the Hogwarts Express! You’ll be taking this train to and from school every year, so get used to it! We’re pretty early, so I can help you up onto the train and if we bump into people I know I can try to introduce you!”

Lethos says his goodbyes to Andromeda and Ted, thanking them once again and promising to write, before following Tonks onto the train, dragging his luggage up with him. They walk down most of the train, looking for any of her old school mates, but to no avail.

Finally, they chose a cabin that was empty, and Lethos tucked his luggage up on the rack. Tonks frowned. “I know Fred and George are usually late, but I expected Diggory to be here already.” Shrugging, she turned and gave Lethos a big hug. “It’s gonna be lonely with you gone. I’ve been an only child, so I’ve never had a sibling before, so I really am glad that you came and joined us in our home. Mum and Dad will be pretty slow to say it cause they don’t wanna scare you, but in these couple of months, all three of us have come to see you as part of our family. So if you have any problems here in school, do write to us and let us know okay?”

Lethos smiled. “Thanks Tonks. It’s amazing just how much you and your family have done for me. I don’t remember anything about my family, I was probably too young when they dropped me off at the orphanage, but truthfully, when we have dinner together, every night at your house, I totally imagine that that must have been what it would have been like.” He hugged her back. “I will definitely write. Can’t wait to tell you about the potion I will be brewing for Snape of course.”

Tonks laughed, and the two of them continued joking with each other. Finally, the time for the train to depart drew near, and Tonks got up to leave. Promising to send an owl to her friends to introduce themselves to him in case he needed a friendly face, she got off the train. Standing on the platform with her parents, the three waved a last goodbye before disapparating.

Taking out his book on runes, he was just about to start working on deciphering Ted’s notes when the compartment door opened up. A small, black haired boy stood at the doorway, looking nervously in. “Excuse me, would you mind if I shared the compartment?” The boy mumbled. He reminded Lethos of the younger kids in the orphanage, especially those who had recently joined or got transferred. 

“Sure!” Lethos said with a smile. “Come in. My name is Lethos, what’s yours?”

“I’m Harry”, the boy said, pulling his luggage into the compartment. Lethos stood to help Harry lift his luggage up onto the rack. He noticed the baggy clothes and the fact that Harry’s luggage was suspiciously light, and immediately the comparison to the orphanage seemed to be more than likely.

“Is this your first year at Hogwarts?” he asked Harry as the two sat down. Harry nodded. “Me too!” Lethos grinned. Seeing the confused look on Harry’s face, he continued. “I mean… I’m not a first year like you. I’m actually in third year, but it’s my first year here. Wow, ok let’s take this from the beginning.” Lethos then gave Harry a summarised version of his discovery of being a wizard and discovering the wizarding world. He saw Harry’s eyes focus when he mentioned how he hadn't known about being a wizard, and saw the imperceptible nod when he mentioned that he was brought up in an orphanage and didn’t know his parents.

“What about you?” Lethos asked after he had finished.

He noticed Harry hesitating, but he gave the boy some time to think. Finally, Harry opened his mouth and-

“Anyone sitting there? Everywhere else is full.” A loud voice interrupted them from the compartment door, as a boy with red hair stuck his head in. Lethos glanced at Harry, who immediately nodded to the other boy. “Sure,” Harry said, and the boy walked in as well.

“I’m Ron Weasley, by the way.” Ron said, reaching out with his hand to shake both of theirs. Lethos and Harry both introduced themselves. Ron’s eyes boggled. “Are you really Harry Potter?? I thought the twins were having me on!”

Lethos watched their conversation with interest. Of course, he had come across the name Harry Potter in some of the books he had read, and the topic of Harry and You-Know-Who(he wondered if people actually just forgot his name as time went by since no one was actually willing to tell him the wizard’s name) had come up at the dinner table occasionally. He just never realised that the Harry he had talked to earlier was the same one he had heard of. Now he was even more worried about the conversation that he had with Harry earlier.

“Anything off the cart, dears?” A voice from the corridor broke Lethos out from his thoughts. A witch was pushing a trolley of sweets past their door and had paused to look in. Both Harry and Lethos nodded, while Ron turned red as he mumbled no. Lethos just bought one of the sweets that intrigued him, but he was surprised to see Harry ordering a bit of everything, bringing them all back into the compartment to share. He was also interested to see how Harry ended up forcing Ron to accept his sweets by ‘exchanging’ it with the sandwich. The three continued on their conversation of what to expect in Hogwarts, as Lethos put the worries he had at the back of his mind. There would be time to ask Harry more in the future.

The three boys spent most of the trip trying out the different types of sweets and they had a blast challenging each other to guessing the flavors of the different beans(Lethos guessed wrongly on a lime one and had a mouthful of wasabi instead). They had just struck up a conversation about Ron’s rat Scabbers, and Ron himself had just started to tell them about a spell his brother’s had taught him when the compartment door slid open. A girl wearing the Hogwarts robes and sporting bushy brown hair stepped in, a timid looking, round faced boy walking in after her.

“Have the three of you seen a toad? Neville has lost his and we’re trying to find it.” The three of them shook their heads, but the girl had focused her attention on the wand in Ron’s hand. “Are you doing magic? Let’s see it then!” Ron frowned, taken aback by her forwardness but proceeded to cast the spell. As soon as he started speaking, Lethos knew that the spell was bogus. It sounded more like a nursery rhyme than an actual spell, but he decided not to say anything about it. The girl however, was a lot more frank.

“That’s not a very good spell is it? It doesn’t look like it works at all.” Ron just frowned and kept silent. “No one in my family is magic at all, but I’ve tried a few practice spells on my own and they’ve all worked for me. I’m Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?”

Lethos, Ron and Harry all introduced themselves and Lethos saw the spark in Hermione’s eyes when Harry spoke his name. Deciding to step in, he spoke, “What about you there? Your name’s Neville right?” He said kindly to the timid boy. “Where did you lose your frog?”

Hermione’s eyes widened as she remembered what she was doing before she got distracted. She jumped up. “Let’s go Neville, we still have to find your frog!” Lethos stood up. “I’ll help as well,” he said. “Help look after my things for me? I’ll be back soon.” He called back to Harry and Ron as he walked out.

“So, what’s the name of your frog?” He asked Neville.

“Trevor,” came the reply. Lethos nodded as he took out his wand. “Have you guys been walking down the entire train searching for it?” He directed this question at Hermione, who nodded. “I’m going to try something that I am pretty sure isn’t going to work, but after that I have another idea.”

He raised his wand. “Accio Trevor.” He called out and waited. After a moment, he sighed.

“Was that a summoning charm?” Hermione asked. Lethos nodded. “I know I am supposed to learn it in Year 4, but it’s really useful so I have been trying to practice it early. I haven't gotten the hang of it yet.” He shrugged. “Come on. I know that the prefects are supposed to be patrolling the train, so if we walk down the train we should be able to find them.”

As they walked, he made conversation with Neville and Hermione. He found out that Neville was brought up by his grandmother and Hermione, like him, was a muggleborn. After hearing he was a muggleborn too, Hermione started bombarding him with questions about how he discovered he was a wizard. Both of them were amazed at the age he discovered magic. “I don’t think it’s ever happened before!” Hermione exclaimed. Lethos shrugged. He had spent many nights thinking about it and until he found more information, he knew he wasn’t going to figure out more for now.

He actually realised he enjoyed talking to the two of them. Neville was curious about the way he had studied, and as long as he knew that you would be patient with him, was willing to ask a lot of questions about the subjects he would be taking in the year. Hermione was clearly further along than Neville, but Lethos noticed that even though her outer demeanor was rather bossy and rough, she was actually pretty considerate of Neville. However, she seemed to recognise the fountain of knowledge that Lethos would be and by the time they found a prefect, he had been co opted into Hermione’s plan to help Neville grow in his studies(and confidence, Lethos told himself quietly).

The prefect they bumped into was a pretty Year 5 girl called Penelope Clearwater, who was from Ravenclaw. After explaining the situation to her, she gladly agreed to help them and casted the summoning spell. Moments later, a blur sped down the corridor and flew toward Penelope. Reaching out, Lethos grabbed the toad and handed him over to Neville. “Make sure you look after Trevor this time, Neville.” He said.

They thanked Penelope and walked back to their compartments. Lethos invited both of them to join Harry, Ron and himself, but Hermione declined, saying she had to get ready for the train to arrive. She and Neville thanked Lethos and headed off in a different direction.

Lethos had just reached his compartment when he noticed that there were an additional three people together with Harry and Ron. Listening in, he grimaced, realising that the conversation was heading in the direction of a fight. Just as he was about to jump in to see if he could interrupt, when a yell emerged from one of the boys. It seemed that Scabbers had decided to bite one of them. Taking the opportunity, he yanked open the doorway, taking the boys by surprise and with the strictest and fiercest voice he could pull off, he yelled, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE! GET OUT! GET OUT BEFORE I CONJURE MORE RATS TO CHEW ALL OF YOU UP!”

The surprise worked, and in a panic, the three boys dashed out of the compartment, running in full force down the corridor. Lethos suppressed his laughter until the boys were out of sight, before walking into the room, closing the door and letting go of his laughter. Harry was grinning as well and after checking that Scabbers was okay, Ron started laughing too. The two boys filled Lethos in about the three who had been in earlier(the name Malfoy seemed familiar, Lethos assumed it was one of the family names Andromeda must have taught him). 

Lethos was glad he had scared the boys away. He hated bullies with a passion, having had to deal with them back in the early days of the orphanage. He knew Harry and Ron had been able to stand their ground against these bullies, but he was glad he managed to help as well. They had only just started talking about how epic his timing had been when a voice echoed through the train. “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.” Excited, the three boys quickly pulled on their robes and waited for the train to stop.

Stepping out onto the dark platform, Lethos glanced around and saw the largest man he had ever seen standing off to the side, holding a lamp. “Firs’ years, firs’ years, this way! All right there Harry?” Lethos followed Harry as he walked up to the gigantic man. “This is Hagrid.” Harry said. “He’s the one who gave me my letter.”

Hagrid beamed at Harry, before turning to Lethos. “You must be Lethos yeh? Professor McGonagall said for you to follow the first years and she will meet you at the castle when we arrive.” Lethos nodded and allowed himself to be swept along with the crowd of first years. He noted that those in the older years were directed down a pathway on the other side, near some carriages that were too far for him to make out clearly. The first years followed Hagrid down a long dark path, with only the light of the lamp to guide them, until they turned a bend.

There was a loud “Oooooh!” The path opened out into a great lake. Behind the lake, on a mountain, was a beautiful castle, sparkling in the sky. Lethos was impressed. The castle oozed with history and magic.

Following Hagrid’s instructions, he climbed into a boat with Harry and Ron. In the next adjacent boat, he saw Hermione and Neville climbing in, followed by two other first years. He quickly flashed Neville a thumbs up before the boats lurched and they were off as one fleet, sailing across the lake.

The boats brought them into a dark tunnel, where they disembarked and followed Hagrid up a flight of stone steps and straight to a huge oak door. Hagrid knocked on the door and it swung open at once. Lethos smiled to see McGonagall standing just behind the door, waiting for them to fill into the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorting NEXTTTT  
> And an interesting glimpse of what I imagine the Ravenclaw dorm to be like.


	5. The Sorting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TADA!!! splitting it into two means you get two chapters at the same time!

McGonagall took over from Hagrid, leading the students past where the rest of the school was(Lethos could hear the murmuring of many voices and figured that was the dining hall) and into a small chamber off to the side. She briefed the students on the Sorting, and gave a general overview on the four houses and the house point system. Informing the students to wait for her to come collect them, she took a few steps toward Lethos, gesturing to him to meet her at the corner of the room.

“Mr Reilly, in light of your… special circumstances, the Headmaster and I have discussed and are willing to allow you to do your Sorting in private, if you wish it. We both see benefits to both ways, so in the end we decided to allow you to decide it.”

Lethos glanced at the rest. He shrugged. “I have no issues with being sorted with everyone else here.” McGonagall smiled. “Then I will go off and inform the Headmaster.” With that, she walked out of the room. Lethos returned to his friends to find them in a huge debate. Apparently, none of them knew what the Sorting entailed. Lethos had already found out from Tonks, but he was surprised that Ron, whom he knew had at least a few older brothers, didn’t know. The younger ones’ discussion amused him, however, and he allowed them to stress out over the ‘task’ they would have to do.

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the Hogwarts ghosts, and shortly after, McGonagall returned. Lethos got in line with the rest and followed McGonagall into the hall. He was slightly beginning to regret agreeing to do the Sorting in front of the school, considering the weird looks he was getting from the rest of the students. Being almost a head taller than the rest, he knew he stood out. To distract himself, he allowed himself to look around the hall, taking in the beauty of the bewitched ceiling.

Once they were lined up in front of the hall, McGonagall took out a frayed, brown hat, placing it upon a stool. There was a moment of silence, before the hat burst out into song. Lethos was amused. The hat was a good singer. He heard Ron’s indignant curse at his brothers and let out a laugh. Harry and Ron both glared at him. “You knew!” Harry exclaimed. Lethos grinned and winked, gesturing for them to pay attention to McGonagall who was starting to read out the names.

The Sorting went pretty much smoothly until they heard McGonagall call out “Potter, Harry.” Where previously, each name had elicited a loud cheer and a louder cheer once they were sorted, upon the mention of his name, the entire Great Hall fell silent. Hushed whispers could clearly be heard asking about him as Harry stumbled forward, placing the hat upon his head. Lethos felt that the hat seemed to take longer than it did for anyone else, but just as he started to get worried, the hat opened at the seam and yelled out “Gryffindor!” Looking relieved, Harry took off the hat, walking toward the cheering and screaming table that was Gryffindor.

The cheers were so loud that they drowned out McGonagall calling out his name(Reilly, Lethos), but knowing he was next, he stepped forward anyway. For him, it was not his name but his appearance that made the whispers start. Based on the few conversations he'd had, he knew just how rare his situation was, and he'd expected this kind of response from the general crowd.

He walked over to the hat and plopped it on his head. There was a short pause, before a voice spoke in his ear. “This is new.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” He mentally told the hat. “So how do we do this? You read my mind and then tell me where I have to go?”

A booming laugh roared in his ear. “I also look at the potential that you have, not just what you have right now. And you, you are intriguing. You have the potential for the qualities of all four houses you know. That in itself is rare.”

“I can understand Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but where's the Gryffindor or Slytherin?” Lethos pondered.

“Of the four, the potential for Gryffindor is the smallest, but I see it from the interactions you had with those whom you met just today. Did you not realise where most of them have been sorted? There is a reason you all have gathered, and it was your personality that drew them to yourself. They attract you just as much as you attract them. What I see is the makings of a strong and decisive leader willing to dive into the fray with your fellow Gryffindors. You would make for a powerful leader of the light if you were to be in Gryffindor.”

“As much as I can totally imagine myself doing that, I think I'll pass. I may do it, but I know it's not going to be what I want to be the core of who I am. What about Slytherin?”

“Oh I haven't seen such ambition since… well, in many a year. I see the plans you have to revolutionise this world you've barely known for a few months. However, with your background, maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to place you there.”

“Agreed. Wait! You can see that far back? Like my parents and stuff?”

There was a long pause. “There is something… blocking me from seeing too much. It seems that parts of your mind are blocked off. I am unsure if it's to do with a childhood trauma or some accident, but I don't intend to cause any damage, so I am skirting around those areas very liberally.”

“Much obliged.” Lethos replied.

“Now Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, those two you have a high affinity with. I don't need to explain to you why of course, so unless you have a preference?”

“Ravenclaw. From what I read, historically Ravenclaw tends to churn out good thinkers. I would like the opportunity to get to know people like that whom I can pick the brains of.”

“Ah, spoken like a true Ravenclaw, with of course, the Slytherin side peeking out just a little.” The hat laughed the same booming laugh. “Well then, if you're sure, then we'll sort you into RAVENCLAW!!!”

The last word was yelled out for the whole hall to hear, and Lethos thanked the hat before taking it off and placing it back on the stool. He walked towards the Ravenclaw table amid a round of applause. There was a moment's pause while everyone tried to figure out where he should sit, before finally the Ravenclaw prefect he had met on the train, Penelope, slid over and gestured for him to sit. She herself was strategically placed in between the first years and the rest of Ravenclaw. He smiled an appreciative smile and sat down next to her, turning his attention back to the Sorting.

front. Ron was just being sorted, and Lethos noticed with a slight pang of regret that just as the hat had told him, all four of those whom he had talked with in the train had been sorted into Gryffindor. Both Hermione and Neville glanced over and he grinned at them, nodding to them before he turned back to the front.

After Dumbledore’s speech(Lethos had found it utterly hilarious), food had appeared on the table and he began dishing the most appealing dishes he saw. Wanting to know more about the house he was now in, he struck up a conversation with Penelope. Due to their proximity to the first years, soon, the conversation had roped them in as well. By the time dinner ended, he had gotten to know at least the first years, specifically the trio of Lisa Turpin, Padma Patil and Sue Li, who had bombarded him with questions about his life leading up to Hogwarts.

As dinner was winding down, Dumbledore stood up once again, giving a few important announcements, before he dismissed the school. Penelope called out to all the first years, signalling for them to follow her. Lethos fell in together with them. Penelope led them up and down different corridors, taking a long and wide loop, specifically highlighting the rooms that they would have classes in. At the end of the tour, she led them up a long spiral staircase. There was a door at the top of the staircase, and Lethos was intrigued to see that there was no door handle, only a single knocker. Penelope reached out and knocked on the door, and immediately the knocker spoke,

“I am mightier than a sword,  
Although I do not slice.  
My heart is black as ink, you see,  
And my words as cold as ice.”

She turned to face the rest. “Everytime you wish to enter our dormitory, use the knocker, and answer the riddle that is posed. If you are able to, you gain entry. If not, you will have to wait here for someone else to try.” She turned to face the door. “A quill.” She said. There was a moment’s pause before the door opened, allowing her inside. She kept the door open, ushering everyone inside. The common room was spacious, and those from the older classes had already settled in.

Within minutes, they asked to settled down on the couches, and the Seventh Year Prefect introduced himself as Dave Turner. He then launched into a long lecture about the importance for Ravenclaws to maintain the quality of their grades, and their punishments if they did not do so. He also lectured them about maintaining the ‘Ravenclaw image’ and what would happen to students that did not manage to conform. Lethos picked up some phrases Dave used that he was highly uncomfortable with, but he kept silent for now, hoping that maybe the prefect was just trying to scare the first years. He glanced over and saw Penelope’s face in a frown, and he knew that he would have to talk to her about it sooner or later.

Dave finished with his speech, and the fifth year prefects were tasked to settle the first years in their rooms. The male fifth year prefect immediately started corralling the first year guys, but Penelope called out to Lethos, who walked over. “This is Roger Davies,” She said, introducing a handsome looking third year to Lethos. “Roger, this is Lethos. He’s going to be in third year like you, so he will probably be in the same room as you. I was wondering if you could help me to look out for him, and bring him to classes and all? I thought about who else to ask but…”

Roger nodded, brushing his long fringe out of his face. “It’s okay, I get it.” He turned to Lethos. “Come on Lethos, let’s get you up to our room.”

Lethos followed closely behind and waited until the two of them were walking up the staircase leading to the boys room before asking, “What was that all about? Between you and Penelope. I can imagine it’s linked to Dave’s speech about the ‘perfect Ravenclaw image’ or something.” Dave glanced back, his eyebrow raised. “You’ve been paying attention.” He nodded. “Just try greeting the rest of our roommates when you enter the room. See if you can get them to talk.”

He led Lethos into a room where five beds were arranged in small circular alcoves, with a single central area that connected to the entrance they had just walked into. Lethos imagined the shape of the room would look just like that of a child’s drawing of a flower, if seen from above.

He walked past one of the alcoves and noticed his luggage was already there. Lining the walls around his alcove were empty shelves, and he noted that a curtain could be drawn across the entire alcove for privacy. He also noticed that of the five alcoves, two already had their curtains drawn. “This is your bed and personal space. Mine is there,” Roger pointed at one of the open alcoves, and this here is Joel Fenwick. Joel, this is Lethos.”

Lethos stepped forward and stuck out his hand, offering it to Joel. Joel paused for a moment, before grudgingly reaching out to take the handshake. He murmured something about needing to sleep and get ready for school, before heading into his alcove and pulling the curtains closed.

Roger signalled for Lethos to follow him into his alcove. Glancing around, he pointed at the curtain and whispered, “Muffliato”. “That’s the Muffliato charm. Basically makes it so no one else but us can hear this conversation. Professor Flitwick taught it to me, I don’t think it’s in the syllabus so if you want me to, I can teach it to you.” He sighed. “Okay, so I think you have noticed already, but there’s a huge issue here in Ravenclaw.”

“When I joined, I expected this to be a house of eagles, not snowmen.” Lethos retorted, still stinging a little from Joel’s response.

Roger shook his head. “That’s the problem with eagles. In general, we aren’t the most sociable animals in the first place. But historically, the Ravenclaw seventh year prefect is given the highest authority here in the dorms, and for the past two years that I have been here, that spot has been held by guys like Dave, who use their position to push everyone into isolation. They honestly believe in all work and no play, and to them, house unity is everyone scoring top scores in every year. Penelope has been here longer and she tells me that it didn't use to be as bad, but Dave and the prefect before him were the ones who pushed the whole house into this state.”

“No one is able to speak out against him?” Lethos asked. “What about if someone else challenged him for that spot?”

“No one dares. And also, just look at how Joel responded to you? He has successfully isolated people from each other. In front of the teachers, especially Professor Flitwick, they will play the good boys and girls. But here in the dorms, they basically force us to be the ‘model students’ they think Ravenclaws should be. And if anyone falls out of line, or acts out, they basically start giving you hell.”

“What do they do?” Lethos asked.

“It starts simple, usually with them sneaking in to steal stuff from your dorm while you’re in classes. Then comes the cold shoulder, where they put pressure on the entire house to treat you as if you don’t exist. It gets worse and worse until you end up giving in to whatever they ask.” Roger shuddered. “Last year, the other two third years, aside from Joel, got caught trying to sneak out to Hogsmeade. Dave had taken over by then, and he made their life a living hell.. It took them less than a month to crack, and honestly, I don’t expect them to ever step a toe out of line anytime in the near future.”

“Some would say something like that would be good.” Lethos pondered. 

“Not at the expense of the personalities of the people here.” Roger countered. “Look, right now, I would say only Penelope and I have the base to speak out against Dave. I am the star Quidditch player, and Penelope is one of the top scorers in the entire school. With all that he preaches about the perfect Ravenclaw, he can’t bully us the way he does others without looking like a hypocrite. But we are only two.”

“So why tell me all this? Why risk me running to Dave and spilling everything you just told me?” Lethos challenged.

“Penelope trusts you.” Roger said. “She told me about how you helped out some of the first years on the train, and then again we both saw how you connected with the first years at dinner. We want you to continue talking to them, continue building this bond. From there, if we can keep this entire batch from falling under Dave’s control, then we will have a good chance of overturning the entire structure and release everyone from this oppression.”

Lethos stared at Roger, pondering the idea in his head. “Let me sleep on it. I want to help, yes, but I want to figure out what exactly I can contribute to.” Roger nodded, dispelling the Muffliato charm and pulling open the curtain. Thinking hard, Lethos went into his own alcove, where he slowly unpacked his few belongings and lay down on his bed. Deciding that he would write a letter to Tonks and family the next day, Lethos allowed the fatigue from the rest of the day to seep in and soon, he was deep asleep.


	6. The First Classes

Lethos’ first week passed fast, though not uneventfully. The effects of the Ravenclaw’s prefects’ control over the house was significant. At the first day’s breakfast, none of the older students(aside from Roger and Penelope) were willing to even talk to him. He found out from Roger that it was due to his unusual situation, being transferred into the house halfway. Apparently, Dave saw fit to decree Lethos’ sudden entrance into third year as unworthy, and that he would have to work his way to prove that he was worthy to be in Ravenclaw.

Lethos smirked as soon as he heard that, intending to take up the challenge. Having had studied intently over the summer, and having Tonks as a tutor(he knew she didn’t feel she helped a lot, but he realised quite early on that to be an Auror she really was one of the more advanced students and where possible he had picked her brain), he was very sure he was far ahead of his peers.

It also helped that his first day’s lessons were all those who had professors that could be impressed with hard work. Charms was probably his weakest subject when it came to spell casting, but he had already practiced the Depulso charm, which was the lesson for the day, to perfection. Flitwick was amazed by the talent he showed(Lethos inwardly scoffed at the word. It was more hard work than anything), and awarded Ravenclaw ten points for the performance. Lethos was pleased too that he was allowed to do his own self-study through the rest of the lesson, which he fully utilised to get Flitwick’s help on perfecting his Summoning spell.

Transfiguration was also easily handled. McGonagall had already seen what he could do, and for a demonstration, she called him forward to cast Duro for the class to observe. His last class for the day was Ancient Runes and though everyone in his class was at an introductory level, Professor Babbling was impressed to see that Lethos had already read and understood most runes that would be covered up till the OWLs. He managed to rope Babbling into a drawn out conversation about his experiments in inscribing Runes that he felt bad afterwards since most of the class had just been staring blankly at the two as they conversed.

That evening, Dave had come up to him in the common room. “So, Lethos, I heard about your progress in your classes today. It seems that you were indeed placed correctly in the house of the intelligent.”

Lethos flicked his eyes over to Joel, who lowered his face in embarrassment, before glancing to catch Roger’s eyes flash in warning. He turned back to face Dave. “I didn’t think there was a need for me to prove myself to others, especially since I had already proven myself to Professor McGonagall over the holidays. I’m sure whoever told you about my classes today would have told you that she knew beforehand the kind of spells I knew how to perform.”

Dave smiled, making Lethos shudder internally. It was the sweet, sickly kind of smile that a predator would give to its prey. “Ah, but it is our duty as members of this house to ensure that everyone here is able to live up to the prestigious name of Ravenclaw. After all, we don’t want a case where someone here ends up infecting others with stupidity and dragging them down like a virus, do we?” There was a long pause as Lethos held his gaze. The majority of the Ravenclaw common room held their breath. After a beat, Dave nodded. “But thankfully, we have nothing to fear from you in regards to that. The quality of work you performed in class today showed you are a true Ravenclaw, and as long as you maintain that standard, I am sure the members of this house will be willing to continue to accept you as one of their own.”

It sounded as though the entire common room let go of their breath at the same time. Dave turned to go, but Lethos wasn’t done. “I’m sure that the members of Ravenclaw are smart enough to be able to evaluate the worth of a person on their own. After all, wit and learning will always find their kind, isn’t that what the Sorting Hat told us just yesterday?” Dave paused for a moment, before continuing to walk away.

Roger waited a good minute or so before rushing over. “That was epic.” He whispered to Lethos in a low voice. “Using the hat’s words against him, that would have hit hard.”

Lethos shrugged. “Honestly, I expected a bigger fight. The bullies I’m used to tended to be more rash.”

Roger smiled. “If anything, Dave respects intelligence. That’s why he can’t do anything against Penelope even though she openly defies him at times. As long as you keep a clean sheet and keep your grades up, he can’t turn the house against you.”

Lethos nodded, and the two spent the rest of the evening talking about the next day’s classes. Knowing that Lethos had to brew a potion for Snape, Roger told Lethos tips on how to deal with the Potions professor. 

Based on his personality, Lethos guessed that Snape would test him on either the most difficult potion to brew from second year, or a mid-difficulty potion from third year, and he made sure to memorise the steps for both potions. He ensured that he arrived in Snape’s classroom thirty minutes early, just to allow himself the time to calm down, and at the exactly appointed time, Snape billowed into the room.

Lethos immediately stood and bowed, knowing this would be something the Potions master would appreciate. Snape simply raised his eyebrow, before informing Lethos about the TWO potions he wanted to test Lethos on. Biting his lip to keep himself from speaking back, he congratulated himself at least on predicting the correct potions, even if it ended up being both instead of one.

Lethos paused and parsed through the ingredients he would need in his mind, heading over to the potions cabinet that Snape pointed out to take the necessary ingredients. As he laid out the ingredients, however, he paused, seeing the instructions laid out in his mind.

“Professor Snape,” Lethos spoke.

“If you require assistance at this stage, perhaps it would be prudent for you to start from first year instead.” Snape immediately cut in.

Lethos took in a deep breath, before launching into a short explanation on the preparatory steps required and the time intervals for the simmering of the different potions. “As such, I am confident that I will be able to simultaneously brew both potions. However, since I only have a single cauldron as part of my standard potion kit, I would like to request the use of a spare cauldron. This, of course, is to minimise the time you need to spend invigilating this aptitude test, as I am sure there are many things a Potions master like you would better be able to occupy your time with.”

Snape took a moment to evaluate Lethos, who remained as still as possible. His next movement was to raise his wand, levitating a spare cauldron from the back of the classroom onto the table. “This is the cauldron of one of your fellow students. Show me that you are as proficient as you claim.”

Lethos nodded. Taking care not to waste the hint Snape had thrown out, he ensured that he washed and scrubbed out the inside of the new cauldron. Knowing how students were, he was sure that this cauldron had not been as clean as he would need for a delicate potion.

The next forty-five minutes were the most exhilarating time he had in awhile. After spending the first few minutes charting out the timeline of his potion brewing on a sheet, he started to chop, crush and toss ingredients into the two cauldrons, pausing to stir at set timings. Andromeda was an accomplished potions brewer, though in her words, nowhere as skilled as Snape was, but she had given Lethos many tips on the different ingredients and how to save time in the preparation of each ingredient. Lethos noticed Snape observing his work with interest, but soon started to block him out as the intensity of the potion making started to increase. Finally, he reached into both cauldrons, pulling out a flask of the potion each, and placing them individually on Snape’s desk.

Snape, who was sitting behind the desk, looked up at Lethos. “Someone has taught you well.” He said cautiously. “Many of these techniques are not… well known to the casual brewer.”

“I learned most of what I know from books, but the person I was staying with guided me well and taught me most of the shortcuts.” Lethos replied.

Snape tilted his head genuinely confused. “Narcissa?”

The name immediately flashed into his brain, triggering a memory of a sad conversation that Andromeda had shared over one of the dinners. Now he remembered why the name Malfoy had sounded familiar. “No,” He said through gritted teeth. “Her sister.”

A flash of recognition went across Snape’s face. “That would make more sense. I had forgotten about her. I hope she is still well?”

“She is.” Lethos replied. He suppressed the curiosity asking Snape exactly what kind of relationship he had with Andromeda.

Snape nodded, turning back to look at the potions that Lethos had made. “You have shown you are competent enough to be in my third year class. Since we will be doing the potion you had just demonstrated, feel free to bring in additional materials you wish to work on during this week’s class. Show me what you are capable of.”

Lethos nodded and made to move off, sure that he had been dismissed.

“Reilly.” Snape called, causing Lethos to turn. “Ten points to Ravenclaw for being a proficient Potioneer.”

If he thought his standing had improved in the Ravenclaw house after his first day, it was nothing compared to what happened soon after he came back from the test with Snape. Apparently Dave had prefects perpetually checking the points records for infringements, and in this case, the ones on duty noticed the words ‘Awarded by Severus Snape’ next to the ten points obtained by Lethos. Within moments, the news had travelled through the common room. Lethos only later discovered that Snape was a stingy(and biased) Professor, and it was unheard of for anyone outside of Slytherin getting even a single point from him. “You’ve pretty much got the same immunity Penelope has,” Roger mentioned to him that night. “Keep it up.”

Despite the change in the attitude that the Ravenclaws had toward him, Lethos still found it hard to connect with the others in his house. Joel was willing to talk to him now, but only in short conversations before he found a way to excuse himself. The two others in his year nodded at him, but tended to recluse themselves in isolation. Lethos noticed that in general, the Ravenclaws kept themselves to pairs, only talking with others if things like homework or school work was brought up. Honestly speaking, if not for the negative treatment of those who did badly, Lethos felt that he wouldn’t have minded the overall attitude of the house as it was.

“I don’t expect to change much on a day to day basis.” Penelope told him one night as she, Roger and Lethos sat at one corner of the common room, a Muffliato charm cast to keep prying ears away. “There was a girl, Eliza. She’s supposed to be in seventh year now. So apparently when she was in Year 4, she got into trouble with Filch for being out late. I was just a first year then. At the time, this negative culture had just started, and she was one of the first victims. They started casting severing charms on her bags, stealing her notes… None one around was willing to do anything, and the more they bullied her, the worse her grades got and eventually, she ended up being all alone. She did well enough in her OWLs, but after that she just left, choosing not to do her NEWTS despite the fact that she originally had aspired to do so. And she’s not the only one. That’s what I’m trying to get rid of. We can’t continue to keep shutting people out just cause they screw up just once or twice.” That conversation had given Lethos a lot to think about.

The end of the second week found Lethos in the library, where he was pleased to bump into Hermione and Neville. Finding a quiet corner, they each took turns talking about their week and updating each other. Hermione and Neville were shocked to hear about Lethos’ experience with Snape. “He’s really scary,” Neville moaned. “All he does is stand near me and I start to blank out.” Lethos grimaced, able to imagine exactly what the scene would look like. They then talked about Harry and Ron, and the two described to him their first flying lesson and the way Harry had flown and helped save Neville’s remembrall. Lethos took note of that, reminding himself to congratulate Harry the next time he saw him.

The three then established a routine, regularly meeting in the library on Fridays to revise and to help Neville with understanding his materials. Lethos frowned when Hermione offered to let Neville copy her work. “You know, the average person doesn’t learn as well as you and I do when they aren’t forced to think on their own.” He told her gently after a week or two, explaining the difference in guiding someone to an answer and giving it to them straight. She was appalled to find out about it, and from then on started to prompt Neville instead of giving him the answers flat out. Over the month, Lethos would pass Harry and Ron in the halls, and they would just talk and have a short exchange, but the two never came for study time on Fridays. He found out from Hermione that day was Harry’s quidditch training day. “Not that they would care to study. They don't even act their age. Honestly.” She commented in a huff. Lethos grinned at her indignation, missing out on Neville’s sudden look of fear as he recalled a memory.

Another highlight of Lethos’ time was his weekly letters from the Tonks’ family. He usually set aside every Saturday night to pen down his week in three letters to each of them, sending them off using one of the school owls on Sunday morning. By Monday, he usually had a reply coming in at the morning post time.

With Tonks, he talked most about school life and the friends he was making. She in turn excitedly informed him that she had been accepted into the Aurors and was in training as a cadet. Her often exaggerated stories entertained him, and he was pleased to find out she was doing well.

His first letter to Andromeda highlighted his encounter with Snape, asking her if she knew him in person and why he had thought that he had been trained by her sister. Aside from acknowledging that she had picked up some tips from Narcissa, who had in turn been ‘the same circles’ as Snape and hence had learned from him, she then requested for Lethos to stop asking any further. Lethos’ curiosity was sated and after that he kept to just sharing about his successes in school.

His letters to Ted usually contained additional inscriptions of Runes. Getting Babbling’s help, he was well into testing for his first Rune project: A pager. The one thing he found most annoying in the castle was that there was no way for anyone to conveniently contact anyone else. If he wanted to alert Hermione or Neville that he would be late for their session, he either had to ask someone else to pass on the message, or just stand them up. Compared to what he saw in the Muggle world, this was one technology he felt was the most crucial to get working. Ted, of course, advised that the reason no one had bothered prior to this was due to that fact that there were some magical means that performed the same purpose. A Patronus, he said, could also do the same thing. The Ministry of Magic used charmed paper airplanes. But he also acknowledged that the advancement would open up many possible options, and so he encouraged Lethos to continue working on it.

One thing he did notice though, was that as October drew to an end, Hermione started talking less and less about Harry and Ron. Neville also seemed to be almost fearful when the two were brought up in a conversation. Something was clearly up between them and Lethos only hoped that it was nowhere as bad as the stuff that was happening in the Ravenclaw dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo some questions here...  
> I have pretty much finished planning the skeleton for the story up to Year 5, but am deciding if I should break it up into different fics(aka doing a series) or just keeping it to this? Comment if you have a preference!
> 
> ALSO, I am looking for more exposure so do help recommend me to others if you feel my story is an interesting read :)
> 
> ALSO ALSO, please let me know if I have any errors in writing. I do my best to self-check grammar and all, but some things do slip through the gaps.


	7. Halloween!

Halloween was an interesting period. For Lethos, the day before Halloween was the first time he would be able to go to the neighbouring village of Hogsmeade(McGonagall had accepted that Andromeda was considered a guardian for him and so the form had been signed), and he, Penelope and Roger arranged to go to the village together.

There, Penelope brought them around, showing them the different shops and sights of Hogsmeade. Penelope and Roger browsed Quidditch supplies in Spintwitches Sporting Needs, before they moved on to Honeydukes, where all of them purchases several sweets to replenish their depleting stores in their dorms. Both of the younger Ravenclaws were excited for Tomes and Scrolls, but they left disappointed, it was a pretty underwhelming bookstore considering they already had access to the library in Hogwarts. Finally, Lethos caught sight of the store he had wanted to see most, and dragged the other two into Zonko’s joke shop. There, he found many of the items that Tonks had described to him, and not knowing if there would be another Hogsmeade trip before Christmas, he started thinking if he wanted to get some Christmas shopping done ahead of time.

Once he had finished his shopping, he returned to his friends to find them in conversation with three very bright haired students. “Lethos!” Penelope gestured to the rest. “This is Percy Weasley, he’s a fifth year prefect, like myself. The two beside him are his brothers, Fred and George.”

“I’m Fred”

“No, I’m Fred today. You’re George.”

“Oh yes! I almost forgot.”

Handshakes went around as Lethos introduced himself. “You’re the one who got Sorted this year!” Fred exclaimed.

Lethos grinned. “I was hiding from the Ministry of Magic. Managed to avoid them for a full two years until they caught up with me and sent me to school.”

Percy, Penelope and Roger’s eyes boggled, while a subtle grin crossed both twin’s expressions. “Come, you must tell us all about the different techniques you used to avoid the Aurors. Have you had to hex any?” Both twins wrapped their arms around Lethos, one on each side, and led him down the path into the Three Broomsticks. “How long do you think we can keep the story up?” George whispered. 

Lethos grinned. “None of the Ravenclaws know my full story. I think if we play it well, we can drag it on through the entire day.”

With Fred and George (and Percy) joining their group, the party became a lot rowdier. The two twins were amazing at helping to maintain a story, and Lethos was able to continue weaving an intricate story about an epic escape from his orphanage and dodging Aurors left and right, until just moments before the end of the day, where he proudly announced that he ‘may’ only have done half of what he had said. After which, the three pranksters ended up laughing and running back to the castle, pursued by an annoyed Percy and Penelope.

The next day was Halloween, and though classes were light, Lethos made sure to use the time to work on some of his projects. He went for charms early, to see Flitwick clearing up the feathers from the previous class. Leaving one feather out, he practiced the Summoning charm on the feather, letting Flitwick advise him on the areas he was lacking until the rest of the class came in. By the end of class, he was pleased to see that he was able to summon the feather successfully. He had already perfected Cheering Charms, so as usual, Flitwick allowed him to use the time to work on his own.

That night was the Halloween celebration. As usual, the Ravenclaw table was the most subdued of all the tables, and Lethos found his eyes wandering around and looking out for his friends. He saw Fred and George Weasley clearly causing havoc with the joke items they had bought in Zonko’s, and he spotted Harry and Ron nearby along the Gryffindor table. To his surprise, however, he couldn’t see where Hermione or Neville were.

“Lethos.” Lethos spun to see Neville standing beside him, nervously shifting from foot to foot. Lethos knew exactly why. Though it was not prohibited, it was rare for students to walk across to another house’s table. He knew immediately it was important if Neville was willing to do this.

“Is it Hermione?” Neville nodded, before telling Lethos about the altercation in Charms, the offhand comment made by Ron and the fact that Hermione was in the girl’s bathroom crying. Lethos grimaced. He knew enough to know that Ron wasn’t intentionally trying to cause hurt to others, but the boy really had to learn to control his mouth.

“I’ll go see if she’s willing to talk. You-” Lethos never got to tell Neville what to do. At that moment, the doors of the Great Hall burst open, and Professor Quirrell sprinted into the hall, terror on his face. “Troll,” He gasped as he reached the teacher’s table. “Troll in the dungeons. Thought you ought to know.”

Lethos’ first thought was that for a weak man, he had an incredible set of lungs for his words to travel across the entire hall. His second thought was that of Hermione. She was still in the bathroom!

“Go back to your table and make sure you return with the rest of your house.” He told Neville. “I’ll go let Hermione know about what’s happening.”

Neville’s face was white with fear, but he rushed off, heading back to his table. By this time, Dumbledore had given his instructions for the Prefects to lead the students back to their dorms, but as they were leaving in order of their years, he wasn’t able to leave inconspicuously until it was his year’s turn.

Quietly, he followed the rest of his housemates, waiting until the prefect leading his year had gone around a bend, before he broke off from the group, heading toward-

“Where do you think you are going?” Lethos froze, turning to see a furious Dave Turner marching toward him.

“I’ve got to go to the toilet, it’s pretty urgent.” Lethos responded smoothly.

“Don’t bother lying to me.” Dave snarled. “I heard your conversation with that Gryffindor firstie. You’re going to find the other Gryffindor, aren’t you.” Lethos remained silent, keeping his gaze locked on Dave, who had placed himself in the way. “Let the Gryffindors deal with their problem. The Headmaster was very specific. Everyone is to return straight to their dorms. If you go now and are caught, you’re going to cost us points!”

Lethos shook his head. “She’s my friend. I’m just going to let her know about this, and then bring her back to her dorm. It’s practically on the way!” Lethos gritted his teeth. “Look, let me deal with my issues, and you deal with yours. If I get caught and they deduct points cause of me, I’m sure it’ll be beneficial for you.”

Dave still hesitated. Lethos lost his patience. The idiot was costing him time. He whipped up his wand, pointing it at the prefect. "Move aside or I swear I will send the most painful curse I know at you."

Dave paled. He may have been a seventh year but he had heard stories about Lethos. Who knew what kind of spells the third year would throw. He immediately stepped back and Lethos pushed past him, breaking into a run. "I'm gonna tell the Professors on you!" He yelled after Lethos.

"Thanks! I may need the help!" Lethos called back, intentionally misinterpreting to annoy Dave. He was just grinning to himself about how annoyed Dave would be when he heard a scream.

Swearing, he ran at top speed toward the sounds of clanging and bashing. He heard voices yelling and the grunts of a troll as he yanked open the door to the girl's bathroom. His mind took a moment to process the information as he walked in on the weirdest sight in his life.

Harry was clinging to the back of the troll, his wand lodged very firmly in the nostril of the troll. The troll was waving it’s club around wildly. Hermione was cowering under the basins by the side while Ron was standing in front of the troll, frozen with his wand pointed at the troll. 

“Harry!” Lethos called out in a panic, whipping up his wand, “Accio club!”. However, as soon as he cast the spell, he knew it didn’t work. His panic had made him lose his concentration and the magic of the spell faltered. The troll however, had heard his shout and lumbered forward, reacting to his voice. The sudden movement towards him caused Ron to break out of his daze, yelling out, “Wingardium Leviosa!” The club immediately rose up into the air, paused for a second, and then fell, knocking the troll straight in the head. Seeing how close Ron was to the troll, Lethos lunged forward, slamming into the younger boy, who had frozen once again in the path of the falling troll. 

A split second later, he felt a large weight slam into him and he felt himself crushed down, slamming his head hard against the ground. The last sound he heard was that of Harry, Ron and Hermione's yells as his world faded to black.


	8. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lethos deals with the aftermath of his actions from Halloween.

The first thing Lethos felt as he regained was an aching throbbing in his head. He groaned, trying to bring his arm up to touch his head when he realised that they too were aching like mad. Slowly, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in something that looked like an infirmary. He assumed it was Hogwarts’ Hospital Wing.

“How are you feeling, Mr Reilly?” A motherly looking woman asked as she walked towards him. 

“Bad. It’s like every part of my body is aching.” Lethos moaned.

“Well, you are lucky to be alive!” The woman scoffed as she waved her wand over Lethos, muttering some incantations. “So many bones in your body were broken that it took me hours to repair all of them.” Lethos closed his eyes. That would definitely explain the pain he was feeling through his whole body.

“Now, the headmaster has told me that I am to inform him when you wake up. I am going to give him ten minutes to ask you all the questions he needs to, and then you are going to spend the night and possibly the next few days recuperating. Is that clear?” Lethos was in no hurry to fight with the fierce tone she had and simply nodded.

Within minutes, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick all entered the Hospital Wing. “How are you feeling, Lethos?” Flitwick was the first to ask.

“Like a troll landed on me.” Lethos almost laughed, but realised how painful it would be and just kept still instead.

“Indeed,” Dumbledore mused. “We have to have all the teachers on hand levitate the troll just so we could shift you out from under it.” There was a short pause. “Now, I understand from Madam Pomfrey that you are in a lot of pain, so I do intend to keep this short, for fear not only of your wellbeing, but mine as well if we overshoot our dear Matron’s time limit. Can you tell us the sequence of events that led to you being under the troll?”

Lethos’ eyes opened wide as he remembered exactly why he was there. “Oh no, Hermione! Professors, are the three of them okay? I think I managed to push Ron out of the way but did he get injured?” The panic made him attempt to stand up, but both Flitwick and McGonagall stepped forward, gently pushing him back on the bed.

Dumbledore addressed his concern. “The only one injured from the event was you. And the troll of course, but i digress. Your three friends are unharmed, and have been sent back to their dorms. We simply need to know your side of the story before we can proceed with anything.”

Lethos nodded, before taking a breath and starting to talk. “Around the time that Professor Quirell came in to tell us about the troll, Neville came over to me to talk. He mentioned to me that Hermione was outside the Great Hall. As soon as I heard about the troll, I immediately thought about her and thought of warning her about it.” Lethos chose not to speak about the reason for Hermione not being in the Great Hall. He didn’t want either Harry or Ron to get into any further trouble.

“Did Mr Longbottom know that Ms Granger had attempted to hunt down the troll herself?” McGonagall asked.

Lethos’ brain went into overdrive. He realised that Hermione must have covered for Harry and Ron by lying about the reason she was in the toilet. He immediately changed his next sentence to match what he hoped was the same story. “I don’t think he knew at all. All we knew was that Hermione had slipped off and was not at the Great Hall. So Neville came to inform me and I went to search for her cause I was worried.” He saw the professors nodding and internally he sighed in relief. “I heard a scream and ran toward the noise. When I entered the bathroom, I saw Harry and Ron trying to keep the troll away from Hermione. I cast the summoning spell to try to pull the troll’s club away, but I think I was too panicked and the spell didn’t work.” He frowned, thinking back to that moment. “But then I think Ron levitated the club, which was honestly what I should have done instead of using a spell I know I am not proficient at. He dropped the club and the troll fell. He was close to the troll as it fell, so i jumped forward to make sure he didn't get hit by the troll.”

There was a long silence as the three professors seemed to ponder deeply about the issue. Finally, Dumbledore spoke. “Your story definitely matches us with the stories of the other three students, as well as the independent testimony of your Ravenclaw prefect, Mr Turner, who informed us that you ran off to search for your friend after Mr Longbottom came to talk to you. But throwing yourself under a troll, even if it is to save someone else, is something very dangerous and deadly. Nevertheless, it showed a great deal of courage, and I am happy you survived. Fifteen points to Ravenclaw for this selfless act.”

With that, he nodded at Madam Pomfrey, who ushered them out and spent the rest of the night fussing over Lethos.

The next morning, Lethos was awoken by a squeal and someone grabbing tightly onto him. He opened his eyes to receive a face full of bushy brown hair. “Young lady, please get off my patient or I will have to ask you to leave!” He heard Madam Pomfrey chastise from the back. Sheepishly, Hermione backed off, and Lethos was able to see that both Harry and Ron were standing awkwardly behind her.

Ron was the first to speak. “Hey Lethos, thanks for… you know, saving me. It would have been me in that bed if not for you.”

Hermione cut in. “In fact, Madam Pomfrey had just told us that if Ron had been in your position, he would have been more likely to die, since he is younger and therefore his bones not as developed.” Lethos raised his eyebrow to see that not only had Ron not said anything back to her, he was nodding as well.

“So I see the three of you have made up then. You also have Neville to thank though. He was really worried about you last night.” He smiled as the three nodded. He then frowned. “Also, if you needed to lie, could you at least find some way to let me know first? I almost blew your story when they interrogated me last night.”

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh I’m so glad you were able to cover for us. You can’t imagine what a sleepless night I had last night thinking that the professors might find out that we lied to them!”

Ron, Harry and Lethos burst out laughing. “Getting attacked by a troll and her nightmares are about lying to teachers.” Ron exclaimed. “You’re truly the best, Hermione.”

Lethos settled back into his bed as the three friends started chatting around him. If anything good came out of the pain he had to go through, he was glad to see the renewed spark in the three friends’ eyes as they embarked on this newly cemented friendship.

Twenty minutes later, the trio packed up, promising to come visit again before they ran off to their next class. Lethos was able to spend the rest of the morning resting and reading up on one of the spare textbooks Madam Pomfrey said that students tended to leave behind in the Hospital Wing. 

He had just finished the lunch that had been brought up to him when Penelope and Roger walked in. “The rumor around the school is that you got squashed by a troll.” Roger proclaimed as he got nearer.

Lethos groaned. “I did.” Roger burst out laughing while Penelope looked concerned. Lethos shook his head. “No lasting injuries though. I think I should be back by tomorrow at the latest.”

Immediately, both of the Ravenclaws had a frown cross their faces. “Dave was on the warpath against you last night.” Penelope said. “He kept claiming you threatened to curse him and that you were going to get the name of Ravenclaw tarnished and all that.”

“Oh, yea I kinda did do that.” Seeing the look of shock on their face, he continued, “The threatening him part, not the tarnishing the name part.” Lethos then proceeded to update his friends on the entire story from the night before.

When he was done, Roger whistled. “Saving someone's life! Well Dave can't use that as ammunition against you, that's for sure.”

Penelope nodded. “The thing is that this morning, the prefects on duty checked the points log and not only did you not get docked points for the affair, you got awarded points. The whole house is in an uproar cause no one knows what exactly happened. You getting points, however, probably just shredded whatever Dave said about you last night. He's definitely going to try something when you get back though.”

Lethos smiled. “I'll deal with THAT when I actually need to go back. For now, Roger, I need your notes from the classes I missed.”

Night in the Hospital Wing left Lethos all alone with his thoughts. For the first time that day, he allowed his mind to wander back to the night before. Despite what everyone said, he knew that he had made the situation worse. He kept playing back the memory in his head. He could have cast so many spells, and yet he chose to cast one he had only successfully casted ONCE that morning. Not only did he not help the situation, he was also clearly aware he had made it worse. He was sure that it was due to his shout that the troll had lumbered forward, placing Ron into the danger zone when it fell. If Ron had been given just that few seconds more to snap out of his daze and cast the levitation spell originally, the troll would have landed without any of the rest being in the fall zone.

Lethos sighed. One consolation was that he was the only one injured. He knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if one of the younger ones had gotten hurt due to his actions. The point still stood though. He may be the furthest along in his cohort when it came to spells and studies, but he clearly was missing out on experience when reacting to situations such as this. If he wanted to improve himself, he needed help, one that books could not provide.

It was the next morning, as he got discharged, that the idea came upon him. Without heading back to the Ravenclaw dorms, Lethos walked straight to the Charms classroom, checking to see if Flitwick was in his office.

“Professor Flitwick?” He asked as he knocked on the door to the professor's office.

“Come in!” He heard Flitwick call. Pushing the door open, he walked into the office to see the professor sitting at his table marking some essays. “Mr Reilly! So glad to see that you have made a full recovery. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Professor, is it true that prior to teaching here, you were a duelling champion?” Lethos asked.

Flitwick puffed out his chest and gestured to a cupboard to the side of his office. Glittering trophies lined the shelves. “Indeed I was. Is this line of questioning in conjunction with the events of Halloween?”

Lethos nodded. He shared with Flitwick about his concerns, that despite having all the spells in his repertoire, he had not only been useless, but essentially caused the situation to worsen.

“While I disagree with you on the finer points of how badly you may have affected the situation, I do acknowledge at least, that being untrained, it is unlikely that you acted in the most efficient way that night.” Flitwick stood up, walking across his table to stand directly in front of Lethos. “You have, of course, come to the right person. While I am pleased to hear that you are interested in learning how to react better under stressful circumstances, I would also like to remind you that as a student, instances like this are not supposed to be common.” He noticed Lethos' shoulders sagging. “That being said, what I can still do for you is to perhaps impart some knowledge on duelling, and perhaps give you some practical experience in the matter so that IF and really, only if, you find yourself in a similar situation, you will have the presence of mind to react in your best interests.”

Lethos looked up, smiling and thanked the professor. The two arranged for a follow up date in the winter, as Flitwick mentioned that he would need the time to prepare. Lethos gladly agreed.

It was with this glee in his heart that he walked into the Ravenclaw common room to see Dave standing aggressively in front of him, flanked by a few of the seventh years. Lethos groaned internally. “Well, well. Look who finally decided to come back to his house. Done hanging out with the Gryffindors?” Dave spoke loudly, attracting the attention of others in the common room.

Lethos sighed. “Actually, I just came from Professor Flitwick’s office. I realised that I wanted more hands on experience with duelling and so requested to understudy him since he was once a Master Duellist.”

Dave hesitated a moment, obviously debating if Lethos had been lying. On his part, Lethos knew he had been stretching the truth a bit, but he knew that he needed to raise his standing as much as he could at the moment. “Well, regardless of that, you still haven’t accounted for your actions during the night of Halloween.”

Lethos intentionally cocked his head. “Pray tell, what did I do that I need to give an accounting for?”

Dave’s face turned a deep shade of red. “The direct disobedience of an order by the Headmaster. A careless regard for the rules, resulting in injury. And the worst of them all, you getting injured and resulting in you missing classes and possibly costing us points!”

“In essence, you’re just accusing me of not fitting in to the ‘Perfect Ravenclaw Image’ that you have decreed us to follow.” Lethos said coldly. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? A Ravenclaw ‘needs’ to be the teacher’s pet. A Ravenclaw ‘needs’ to put his results first. ‘A Ravenclaw ‘needs’ to place his house as priority over the LIFE of another.” He allowed the last sentence to hang in the air. “Isn’t that what you basically told me, the night of Halloween? To just abandon my friends, due to just a HINT of the fear of losing points.”

Lethos looked around at the common room. “Isn’t that what all of you have been doing for years? Egged on by these so called leaders, you ostracise the ones who they deem unworthy? You ignore them at a time they need you the most? That in the fear of being singled out like them, you cast them out to drown on their own?”

He turned back to face Dave. “For your information, I pushed Ron Weasley, who was my friend, out of the path of a full grown troll. Yes, I was injured for that, but Madam Pomfrey said if he was the one in my place, he would have died. If you had stopped me that night, his blood would have been on your hands.”

Dave’s face paled. He obviously had not realised how dire the events of that night had been. “Furthermore, you want to talk about costing points? The headmaster himself awarded me those fifteen points for what I did. I’m sure you’ve already gotten someone to check the log, so you know that it’s true.” He raised his voice, the next part intended for the people around him. “Ravenclaw is a house for the intelligent, yes. But the truly intelligent know that they cannot survive alone in this world. You need the support and help of others around you. That’s why we have teachers. That’s why we have mentors. That’s why we have friends.”

“The ones I went to help that night were my friends, and I would do the same thing over again for them. Just like I would do for those of you here, friend or not. Because you don’t need to be intelligent to save someone’s life. You just need to be human.”

With that, he turned and walked up the staircase to his room, leaving behind a very silent common room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOO we get another scene with the Ravenclaw prefect! Hopefully you all are finding this story as interesting as I hope it is.
> 
> NEXT chapter is when I introduce yet another OC, who I think you all will either love or hate. Here's to seeing you all next chapter!


	9. The First Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has his first quidditch match and Lethos meets someone new!

November was Harry’s first ever match, and he would be playing against Slytherin. Lethos, despite not being a fan, knew that he would be going to watch. He went early with Penelope and Roger to book seats. Roger brought along a second year, an Asian girl called Cho Chang along with them. “Cho, you know Lethos right?” Roger said as he introduced them. “Cho is the new seeker for our team.” Cho greeted Lethos warmly, and the four settled in to wait for the game to begin.

“Are the Ravenclaws even going to turn up?” Lethos asked. “I would have thought something like this would be considered a waste of time to them.” Knowing how much the other three enjoyed Quidditch, he neglected to mention that he too would have skipped the match if not for Harry.

“The points earned in quidditch count as house points, so someone long ago decided that it would be compulsory for all Ravenclaws to attend. They usually try to come at the very last minute though. I find it interesting that YOU are here though, since I know you don’t care much for what Dave thinks.” A voice from behind made Lethos turn around.

A pretty blonde sat behind him, looking at him in amusement as he took a while to come out with an answer.

“I'm Diana Avery, in the same year as you.” She continued talking. “And you haven’t answered my question. Why would you who hates sports with a passion, be here early to hog the best seats on this side of the stands?”

One part of Lethos’ brain noted the fact that she had been aware of his adverseness to Quidditch and all things sports. The main chunk of his brain, however, was still playing catch up. “I came here to cheer on Harry.” He said lamely. “I feel like I haven’t met you before though. You aren’t usually in the common room.”

“I prefer solitude. I had been happy hiding in my own personal space these few years, but since you've arrived, you've stirred up the pot and I find that… exciting to watch.” She leaned forward, her voice low and charming, and Lethos took a moment to realise exactly how close their faces were.

“Cough.”

A very forced cough from beside Lethos made him jerk his head back. “Well, it certainly is nice to meet you, Diana.” He blurted out before turning back to face the field. He glanced over at Roger, who had been the one who coughed. His friend had a huge smirk plastered over his face, and even Penelope and Cho seemed to be holding back their amusement. Lethos made it a point to look straight forward. He had dated before, back in the muggle world, but there had been no one in Hogwarts who he had even remotely been interested in up till now. This girl, however, was just sending his mind into overdrive.

Some time passed and Lethos calmed down enough to continue chatting with his friends about the upcoming game. As he had never bothered to learn quidditch before, Roger had decided to give him a quick run through of the rules of the game. He had just finished learning about the roles of the different players when the announcer started speaking. Identifying the announcer as the dreadlocked Gryffindor who usually was with the Weasley twins, Lethos watched as the quidditch players were introduced, flying in as their house was called. He waved as Harry flew out, though he figured that the young seeker would likely have difficulty spotting him in the crowd. As expected though, the Gryffindor team swooped low over the stands where the majority of the Gryffindors were, and Lethos spotted a mess of red hair. Ron was seated together with Hermione and Neville, and together with some others, were holding up a huge banner with a large Gryffindor lion on it. It flashed several colors and guessing who had enchanted it, Lethos made a note to commend Hermione when he got the chance.

Before long, the match was started. Lethos grimaced each time someone got hit by a bludger, whether red or green. The memory of his bones being crushed were still fresh in his head. He kept an eye on Harry, as the seeker stayed high up in the air, searching for the snitch.

The stands were really starting to fill up at this moment, and he felt a brush against his back. A second later, a lock of golden hair rested on his shoulder as Diana squeezed in next to him. “The back row is getting too squeezy, and if I’m going to get pressed up against someone, I’d rather it be you.” She said with a wink.

Lethos nodded and tried to turn back to the game, but his attention was very much on the fact that his knees were basically pressed tightly against hers, due to how closely packed they were. “So… What exactly do you find interesting about me?” He said as he maneuvered his legs awkwardly together to create a small gap between them. He needn't have bothered however, as the next second, several people jumped to their feet, Roger included, which pushed Lethos right back into contact with Diana.

Diana looked Lethos in the eye with that mischievous eye that made his stomach flutter, and was about to reply when Roger grabbed hold of Lethos. “Lethos, it’s Harry, look!”

Lethos turned to look up at Harry. His broom was jerking wildly, bucking as if it was doing it’s best to throw him off. The twins flew up to help him, but the movement of the broom got even more erratic when they approached. Lethos’ focus snapped right back. He glanced up at the broom, realising it had to be a curse or hex. He started scanning the stands, looking for who the culprit might be, when he saw a mane of bushy brown hair flit out of the Gryffindor area.

Lethos immediately jumped to his feet. He ignored his friends’ shouts and Diana’s indignant “Hey!” and sprinted as fast as he could toward the direction he had seen Hermione head towards. Realising it was the professor’s area she was heading to, he arrived just in time to see her retrieving a bright blue flame from the back of Snape’s cloak. Immediately, he pulled her to the side, shielding her from view as Snape started glaring around, searching for a culprit. He glanced around to see if any of the other teachers had noticed, when he flinched. For a split second, he could have sworn that Professor Quirrell had been glancing in their direction with a look of hatred and disgust. But then someone walked in between them, blocking him from view for a moment, and when Lethos next looked, Quirrell looked as per normal, cowering from Snape’s rampage.

There was another shout, and both Lethos and Hermione turned to see Harry diving toward the ground. Moments later, he spat out the snitch, shouting out in triumph as he waved the golden ball in the air. Seeing that Harry was safe, he turned to Hermione. “Summarise. What was that all about?”

Hermione hesitated for a second before she told Lethos about her seeing Snape jinx Harry’s broom once she noticed it was being jinxed. So she ran over to set his cloak on fire, and as soon as she did so, Harry’s broom went back to normal. Lethos looked hard at her as he processed the information. “Are you very sure?” was all he asked her, and she nodded.

Lethos smiled at her and asked her to go back to the Gryffindor side. He turned to glance at the Potions master, knowing that he had to be careful when approaching the man. The commotion was winding down and Snape stormed off in the direction of the castle. Lethos carefully followed him, ensuring he kept a safe distance away.

They had just followed Snape into the dungeons when he turned around a corner to see Snape pointing his wand at him, a cold sneer on his lips. “You may be adept at Potions, Mr Reilly, but subterfuge is not your specialty. Now, what possible reason did you have for following me here.”

“The commotion at the pitch.” Lethos said carefully, being as vague as possible.

“Ah, so it is you I have to thank for the burning sensation I felt around my ankles? I had heard you were hanging around with the Weasley twins, but I had hoped you would not have stooped to the level of pranking Professors.” Snape put extra emphasis on the last word.

“Well, I would never prank one of my professors on a regular basis,” Lethos said slyly, “But certainly, neither should a Professor be casting a jinx on a broom that was in midair and endangering the life of a student, should he?”

There was a long silence as Snape seemed to be absorbing the accusation that Lethos had just thrown at him. “Are you accusing me of -”

“Being a Death Eater? It’s not just an accusation if it is true, isn't it?” Lethos interrupted. Snape glowered at him. “Contrary to what you think, Andromeda told me nothing about your past. Or at least, she had been trying to keep it a secret. But I simply followed the timelines and noticed that the only time you could have been close enough to Narcissa Black to help train her in potions, would have been the same time when her husband was supposedly ‘Imperiused’ into being a Death Eater. I cannot imagine Voldermort’s right hand man allowing some random stranger into his house just because his wife required potions help yes?”

Snape narrowed his eyes. “And yet, being so smart, you seem to neglect the fact that if, as you say, I am a Death Eater, why in the world would I be here, working for the one wizard all Death Eaters are afraid of?”

“You know, I love your subject, of course. But do you know which subject I love more? History of Magic. Because I love history and I love reading up on the past. And coming into the wizarding world, the one event that I really tried diving into was the Wizarding War with Voldemort. And wouldn’t you know it, in my research, I found out that the Daily Prophet had actually had a competitor, back then. They were more open about the facts after the war, and in fact had published excerpts of transcripts of the different Wizengamot sessions of the trials of all the accused Death Eaters. That’s how I got to know about Lucius’ stupid reason.” Lethos said. “Sadly, for ‘some reason’, the owners of said newspaper had to declare bankruptcy shortly after. Guess the purebloods weren’t too happy.”

“And your research should have divulged that there was no trial for me, but you somehow still suspect me because?” Snape questioned.

“In a VERY obscure trial, one Death Eater had divulged a long set of names, one of which was yours. Now, I know the words of ONE Death Eater, especially one on death row, doesn’t really say much, but it was the one who spoke next who intrigued me. You see, it was none other than Dumbledore himself, who vouched for you. Sure, the transcript was heavily redacted, but it doesn't take much to read between the lines and deduce that you turned traitor on the Death Eaters and ended up spying for Dumbledore on Voldemort. I doubt that information is a well kept secret either.” Lethos realised he was rambling on.

“Look, the point is, I suspect you because of your past, but I am inclined to think that you aren’t the kind of fool who would throw away his meal ticket to kill a boy in front of thousands of people, in the very grounds of the stronghold of the one man who basically could turn your life upside down.” Lethos spoke straight to Snape. “So instead of a curse, I strongly suspect you were performing a counter curse, which means that not only were you trying to save Harry, you also likely know who the culprit is.”

Lethos held his breath, he had laid all his cards on the table, and it was up to Snape now. “You would do well as an investigator.” Snape said. “Fine. I will admit that I was aware of the curse, and proceeded to perform the counter curse. There is nothing wrong with a professor attempting to save a student. Contrary to what you mentioned earlier, I had NO intention of harming any student.”

“Who says I was talking about you earlier? The Professor I was referring to was someone else, the one who cast the actual curse.” Lethos celebrated internally as he caught the flash of panic in Snape’s eyes. Immediately he knew that he had, probably for the first time, caught the Potions master off guard.

“I can say no more than what I have already told you.” Snape said curtly after a moment. “Now, since we have established that I was not attempting to murder a student, perhaps you will allow me to proceed on my way.” He turned and continued walking in the direction of his office, his cloak billowing behind him. Lethos sighed in relief. Talking with Snape was like traversing a viper’s pit. He would take a debate with Dave any day of the week. Turning, he headed back to the Ravenclaw dorms, ready to call it a day.

That Friday, both Harry and Ron joined Neville and Hermione for the study session. The only thing on all their minds though, was the quidditch match.

“It was Snape for sure,” Hermione exclaimed when Lethos mentioned that he did not think Snape was the culprit for the jinxing of the broom. “Hagrid was the one that told us, no student would have the strength to do something like that, only someone very well versed in the Dark Arts. Then I saw him muttering and maintaining eye contact with the broom, and it was only after I set his cloak on fire that he looked away and the jinx stopped!”

“Yes, and I completely believe you when you say you saw him. If not I wouldn't have confronted and accused him that day.” If there was anything the four first years had not expected to hear, it was that. Neville’s eyes seemed to bulge out of his head as all four of them exclaimed in surprise.

Shushing them, he looked around to see if the noise had summoned Madam Pince. Thankfully, it had not. “Look, based on what you have told me, I can completely believe that Snape has it out for Harry. But one thing is that he isn’t stupid. He may pick on Harry, and be an all round elitist when he teaches class, but there is no way he would do something so stupid as to kill Harry in front of thousands of witnesses.” Lethos chose not to reveal the facts he discovered about Snape, thinking it would not be the most prudent to share that information just yet. “For one, I know he is heavily indebted to Dumbledore, though I won’t share why. Secondly, there is a reason he is the Head of Slytherin. He is cunning, and that’s a fact. If he wanted you dead, there are a ton of ways he could kill you. A poison casually slipped in your breakfast, a spell in your back as you walk along the corridor. Thirdly, you yourself said that the spell was likely to be performed by someone with great Dark Magic. Just imagine if Harry had died and there was an inquiry, who do you think the first suspect would be?”

The other students fell silent. “Then, do you know who?” Harry was the first to ask. Lethos’ mind flashed back to the split second where he had glimpsed Quirrell’s face. “I don’t. I have suspects in mind but no real evidence. Which is what we should have gathered properly before accusing someone. But it is clearly obvious that Snape knows but he refused to tell me.”

Lethos realised that he had not convinced the trio. Neville was not as invested in the conversation, so it didn't matter as much to him. Lethos sighed. “Look, all I’m asking is you keep an open mind and look out for other culprits, okay? He looks like a bad guy, he acts like a bad guy, well, he probably is a bad guy. But it doesn't automatically make him the one who tried to kill you.” With that, he tried to get the students focused on their studies for the rest of the afternoon, but he knew that he would have a way to go before he managed to convince them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo someone has appeared that can actually make Lethos tongue-tied?  
> Lots of mystery surrounds this OC so be prepared for more havoc!


	10. Christmas!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's christmas time!
> 
> The relationship between Lethos and Diana deepens, and Lethos gets to have a little heart to heart with Harry.

Christmas drew near, and another Hogsmeade trip was planned for the weekend preceding Christmas. Most of the students had gone home for the holidays, including Penelope and Roger, so Lethos made plans with Fred and George to head over to Hogsmeade together. He had noticed that Diana’s name was up on the list of students who had remained in school for the holidays, and had intended to invite her to join them, but despite the reduced number of students in school, he still had trouble finding her.

Truth be told, he had tried looking for her for most of the month, but to all his efforts (though he tried to tell himself he really wasn’t putting in THAT much effort), he was never able to find her. When he had once mentioned it to Roger, the fellow third year had nodded. “It’s been this way since Year 1. She’s there for classes and pretty much disappears the minute she leaves. No one sees or talks to her unless she talks to them first. Even her roommates say that they are never sure if she’s in the room, behind her curtain or not.” Lethos took note of everything he said, but chose to never bring up the topic again as Roger took the opportunity to tease him relentlessly after that.

The morning before Hogsmeade weekend however, he was pleasantly surprised to receive an owl at breakfast. He had written a letter to Andromeda after his conversation with Snape, and he was looking forward to seeing what she would say about it. Tearing open the letter, he saw Tonk’s writing scrawled across the parchment instead.

Wotcha Lethos, nice to see that you are really neck deep in mischief. I mean, cornering and threatening Snape? That’s something even I wouldn’t have done. Anyhow, I heard that you’ve been getting along with Fred and George! They were the ones I tried to introduce to you that day on the Hogwarts Express. I know you’re heading to Hogsmeade with them this weekend, and since I have a day to spare, I thought I would just come down and meet you all there. We can drink butterbeer and catch up. See you then!

Hogsmeade had a completely different look in the winter. Though it originally already looked like a typical quaint village, once covered in snow it truly had a magical feel to it.  
Tonks was waiting for them with a couple of snowballs, and soon, the four friends were launching snowballs in all directions. After twenty minutes, the group collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

“It’s been awhile, Tonks!” Fred and George greeted her cheerily as they got to their feet. Lethos got up as well, dusting off the snow off his front.

“So, I’m assuming the two of you know Tonks through Charlie?” Lethos asked as the group started walking toward Zonko’s. He remembered the name of the brother that Ron had mentioned a couple of times, and by his calculations, they were in the same year.

“We also had some adventures of our own with some common friends.” Tonks said as she glanced at the twins. “Speaking of adventures, I want to hear about the troll who kicked your ass.”

By the time the group entered Zonko’s, they were roaring with laughter. Tonks and the twins’ laid back attitude helped Lethos relax more than usual, and he had been more than willing to be the butt of their jokes. He also realised it made him feel more comfortable about how badly he had handled that situation.

“So I heard from a little birdie that there’s been a certain blonde girl that’s caught your eye.” Tonks grinned evilly as she spoke. Lethos scowled at her. He knew that she had waited for the exact moment where he had dropped his guard to ask the question. He glanced over at the twins, who also had the same grin plastered on their face.

“Roger may have let slip to us that you were oh so enraptured by someone during our last Quidditch game.” Fred winked.

Blushing, Lethos attempted to brush off the comments. “I was taken by surprise that day. I had a lot in my mind with Harry’s first Quidditch match and all, so I was just a little preoccupied.”

“I seem to remember you being more preoccupied with staring at my legs than the Quidditch game that day.” Lethos jumped as he heard a soothing voice from behind him. Spinning around, he turned a shade of red when he realised Diana was standing right behind him.

“Why are you here?” He blurted out, internally cursing his inability to form a coherent talk. Behind him, he heard the snickers of the twins and Tonks.

“Weren’t you the one who searched the entire common room for me to ask me to come to Hogsmeade together?” She replied with a wink. “So here I am. Are you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“Tonks, Diana, Diana, Tonks. Freg, George.” was all Lethos could muster.

“Why, nice to meet you, George!” Fred loudly greeted his brother.

“So wonderful to finally be introduced to you, Fred” George replied with an equal amount of gusto.

“Oh shut it, you two. You know what Lethos means.” Tonks said while smiling. “It’s nice to meet you Diana. You have no idea how much fun my family is going to have when I go back and tell them all about how you’re making Mr ‘I’m so cool I don’t need your help to study’ here being all nervous and stuttering.”

With Diana in tow, the group headed to the Three Broomsticks. Once seated, Tonks launched into a long story about her first encounter with Lethos and how he had fainted as soon as she had revealed magic to him. The whole pub was filled with the laughter just from the four as Lethos groaned. He had no idea what had happened to him that first day and what had happened to make him just faint like that. “I’m not normally that weak.” He grumbled.

Diana grinned “I agree, normally it takes a full grown troll sitting on you before you need to be sent to the Hospital Wing.” Something about what she said prickled at Lethos’ mind, but the howls of laughter from their companions distracted him. He offered to get the rest another round of butterbeer, if only to get away from them for a moment.

He was just waiting for Madame Rosmerta to top up the butterbeers when a pair of hands covered his eyes. “A prize for guessing who I am,” a low voice whispered in his ear.

“There are not many people who act the way you do, Diana.” Lethos responded as he fought to calm himself.. He turned around to face her. The time they spent in conversation as a group had helped me to suppress the teenage hormones raging around within him. Now he felt he could have a proper conversation with the girl. “So do I get to claim my prize now?” He continued.

Diana winked at him and purred. Lethos had to use all his willpower to keep his mind focused. “Okay then, for my prize, I want you to tell me what it is exactly that you do that keeps you hidden. I figured out that you’ve been listening into my conversations, your comment about the troll sitting on me gave you away. I have only told the details of the story to five people. Penelope, Roger, and the three at the table, and I know that none of them would have told someone else. So you must have been somewhere around, listening to me earlier.”

Diana pouted. “Fine, if you must know. I told you the day we met that I don’t like being around others. So I use a stealth spell everywhere I go. It’s a spell handed down through the generations, and it basically works like one of those warding spells. While I don’t reveal myself, no one is able to notice I am here.” She sighed, walking back to the group, Lethos following behind her carrying the fresh mugs of butterbeer. “Tonks,” she said sweetly when she returned to the table. “Please do something about your adoptive brother here. I basically gave him a free pass for anything and all he wanted to do was ask questions.”

Tonks and the twins groaned. “I’m sorry, he’s just built that way. You need to be way more direct with him if you want to get anywhere.” Tonks replied. Lethos just looked down in embarrassment. The friends continued talking about the year’s events when they noticed it was getting late.

“Well, it’s time for me to get going,” Diana proclaimed as she slid off her chair. Lethos had managed to maintain his composure for most of the afternoon, and he was pleased to see that he was no longer as affected by Diana’s innuendos and charm. “Tonks, it was really nice to meet you, and I will be seeing you three around in school.” She made as if to walk off, before ducking forward and leaving Lethos with a peck on the cheek. “Till I catch you off guard once again,” she whispered softly in his ear as his face turned red, amidst laughter from the other three. He glanced around to see that as per usual, she had disappeared the minute she walked away. 

Christmas Eve was the first session that Lethos had with Flitwick. He reported to Flitwick’s office early in the morning to find the Professor setting up something that looked like crash dummies in his office.

“Right on time, Mr Reilly.” The diminutive professor greeted him. “So, to start off, I was hoping to get to see the full arsenal of your spells, so that I can clearly gauge where you are currently.”

Lethos nodded, and over the next few minutes, he cast spell after spell into the test dummies, showing the Professor the few offensive spells he had learned on his own. Flitwick gave him some pointers on how to improve the efficiency of the wand movement for certain spells, but all in all was pleased with his performance. 

“Now, I know that you would like to focus on practicing duelling to improve your reaction time, but first, I have to ensure you know the shield charm Protego.” Showing Lethos the wand movement, he asked for Lethos to repeat after him.

“Protego!” Lethos said as he attempted to cast the spell. A wisp of white shot out from his wand before dispelling into the air. 

“No worries,” Flitwick encouraged. “It is a rather advanced spell after all, so I would not expect you to get it on your first try.”

“Professor, if you wouldn’t mind, would it be possible for you to cast the spell once, for me to see it?” Lethos asked hesitantly. Flitwick nodded in his usual cheery way and cast the spell. Lethos made sure to watch every aspect of the motion and tried to capture the look of the spell.

“Thanks Professor, just give me a quick moment.” He closed his eyes and did his best to reform the image he had seen just moments before in his mind. He fought against the doubt that clouded him every time he tried to cast a new spell for the first time, until finally, he could clearly form a solid image of what he was imagining in his mind.

“Protego!” He exclaimed, more confidently this time. A large, bright shield appeared in front of him, shining so strongly it made Flitwick clap his hands in glee.

“Wonderful!” Flitwick said as Lethos dispelled the shield. “And a surprisingly drastic improvement from the previous try. What did you do differently?”

Lethos looked sheepish. “It’s the way I seem to be able to learn how to cast spells, Professor. I can’t seem to cast spells, even the most basic ones, until I actually see it being cast. Then I try my best to envision it in my mind until I am able to get a clear picture, after which I usually can cast it. A few of those who have helped me keep thinking I am asking them to show me the wand movements, but most of the time, it’s me wanting to watch them cast the spell. Regarding the Shield charm… the truth is, I have been practicing trying to cast it since Halloween. But all I have are the instructions in the books, and even though I have been practicing and trying for two months, I didn’t really have anyone I knew that I could ask to show me the spell here. So once I saw you doing it, I was able to envision and then cast it.”

Flitwick looked thoughtful. “I have heard of visual learners, but this is truly unique. The kind of improvement you just showed is usually only in cases of extreme pressure, not from casting spells in a classroom like this. Perhaps we will learn more about you as we continue the class, yes?”

After making Lethos cast the Shield Charm once more to confirm he had the technique, Flitwick proceeded to train Lethos in reacting to curses. Lethos thought the lesson was going well. Flitwick was sending simple disarming spells at him at regular intervals, and Lethos was tasked to either dodge or block the spell with Protego.

“We will be increasing the speed now!” Flitwick called out. Lethos needed to dodge more actively now. He noted the fluidity and speed at which Flitwick cast his spells and was impressed at the half-goblin’s abilities. He noted a spell that he was unable to dodge, and immediately shouted out “Protego”. Immediately, he felt something wrong. A similar feeling to Halloween night came over him, and the magic that was attempting to come out of the wand sputtered to nothingness. The disarming charm hit him, and his wand flew out of his grasp and into Flitwick’s outstretched arm.

“Sorry Professor, I must have lost my concentration for a moment there. Could we do that again?” This time, he made sure to pay full attention to the duel. However, similar to the time before, once the pace of the casting increased, his magic seemed to just fizzle out.

“I don’t know what I am doing wrong, Professor.” Lethos said, after the third time. Flitwick too had a frown on his face.

“Mr Reilly, could you describe to me the feeling that you have when your spell gets dispelled in that way?” Lethos tried to explain as much as he could.

Flitwick took a moment to ponder before answering. “Firstly, I would like to talk about the way your spell is failing. If you had been casting it incorrectly, or been distracted, the shield should still form. It would just be weak and easily shattered. What your spell looks like right now, looks very much like the beginning, when you couldn't even cast the spell.”

Lethos nodded, acknowledging the professor’s points. “It’s quite clear that the failing of the spell is linked to the intensity of what I am doing.” Lethos said.

“More like linked to the stress you are feeling.” Flitwick said. “Our state of mind is a very strong factor when it comes to magic. Right now, it just seems that when under too much stress, your magic shuts down.” Lethos did a double take when he heard that. “You are reacting with perfect coordination, and casting the spell with more than enough time so I know your mind is still focused enough. So the only other reason I can imagine other than you forgetting how to cast spells, which doesn’t even make sense, is that your magic simply shuts down. It is a rare thing of course, but I have heard of cases like this before.”

Lethos was devastated. “Is it… something that can be fixed?” he asked, unable to help the weakness creeping out of his voice.

Flitwick looked at the young wizard with concern in his eyes. “Do not lose hope, Lethos. One thing for sure, is that this condition should not be affecting you in your day to day life. As we have demonstrated earlier, it occurs only in the most taxing of situations.” Lethos nodded. “Now, as for what we can do about it, we can practice. Much like stamina, magic can also be trained. So we will keep up this training next term and I am sure that with enough time, we can push the limit further. For now, maybe we should call it a day.”

It was a blessing that the following morning was Christmas. Lethos, who had been tossing and turning the entire night, woke up to find a whole assortment of presents at the foot of his bed.  
The first present he chose to open was from Andromeda. She had given him a large tome that covered the history of the different Wizarding families, both old and new. He had to drag himself away from the book or he knew it would be night before he opened the next present. He was almost as excited with Ted’s gift, as he opened the present to find himself staring at a set of uninscribed runestones. He knew that they were hard to get ahold of, and was excited that he now could actually try utilising Runes in a more practical way. Tonks had gifted him with a self-writing quill, which though he couldn't use for class, he knew he would use for his own self study.

The next present he opened was a shared one from Roger, Cho and Penelope. It was a copy of the latest edition of the ‘Official Guide to the Quidditch World Cup’, which, as he flipped through the first few pages, was essentially a compendium of the rules of Quidditch. He grinned, knowing that they had gotten the book intentionally knowing that he would never leave a book unread. Putting the book aside, he opened a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans from Harry and Ron, reminding him of the time they had spent in the train on that first day. It jolted his memory that he had once wanted to ask Harry about his situation at home. He made a note to follow up on it soon. The next present was a muggle book from Hermione called ‘Jurassic Park’, which she had recommended to him only just recently. The twins had gifted him with a hat that made your head go invisible.

At this point, he was surprised to notice a small pile of presents still unopened. Opening them one by one, he was genuinely shocked to realise that many of them came with small words of support and thanks. Many of them referenced the words he used against Dave that day, and he knew that they were mostly from the Ravenclaws who were still trying to stay under the radar. He even found one that had only the following sentence: “One day, I promise to properly shake your hand.” Knowing who it was from, he smiled, knowing that what he was doing was really making a difference.

He had just put away the presents he had opened up when all of a sudden, he noticed a package that was placed at the corner of the room. Opening it up, he held it up to realise that it was similar to the kind of shirt he liked to wear under his Hogwarts robes. On closer inspection though, he realised it WAS the shirt he wore under his robes. He turned the shirt around to see a VERY obvious lipstick mark on the collar of the shirt. Putting two and two together, he glanced around.

“You’re here now, aren’t you?” He said out loud.

“Like my present?” Diana’s voice came lazily from behind him. He turned to see that she was sprawled on his bed.

“You know, if our roles were reversed right now, what you are doing is very strong grounds for sexual assault.” Lethos said to her.

“But it’s not. And it’s the same reason why I can easily walk into your room, while you cannot walk into mine.” Diana replied coolly. “By the way, do you not cast any protective spells in here? I expected to have to disarm a few defensive charms, but you have hidden them really well. Or is it that you expected me to come for you today?” She looked at him and bit her lip.

“You can stop with the flirting cause I’ve gotten used to it now.” Lethos lied as he attempted to control the blush on his face. “Either way, I have never had to cast any charms here.”

Diana looked genuinely surprised. “I would have thought you would have been taught how to ward your items and your room.” 

“By who?” Lethos asked, genuinely curious. “Andromeda?”

“Yea. The basic anti-spell ward is the bare minimum for anyone who is from Slytherin, and i thought she would have at least taught you that.” Diana looked annoyed. “Fine,” she said as she stood up. Waving her wand around, she cast some spells around the alcove. Lethos saw rune-like markings fly from her wand to the corners of the alcove, glowing there for a moment before slowly fading away. “Alright, it’s done.” Diana said after the last spell faded away.

“Riiiiight. Maybe you could tell me what spells you just cast and if I need to worry about Roger getting his head chopped off if he enters my living space?” Lethos asked nervously.

“Anti-entry, salvo hexia, that’s an anti-hex ward, and an intruder charm. Those in general should be enough for you. I’ve allowed Penelope and Roger to bypass the charms, but I’ll teach you how to add or remove people after this.” Diana turned to look at Lethos. “Of course, you won’t be able to remove me since I was the one to cast the charms, so I guess you still have to live your life worried I may pop in on you in a compromising situation one day.”

This time Lethos didn’t even try to hide his blush. “Are all these really something that your family taught you before even coming to school?” he asked in curiosity.

As soon as he asked the question though, he got a shock. For the first time ever, Lethos realised that Diana looked nervous. “Some families do I guess…” She murmured. She turned away from Lethos for a moment, pretending to check the wards. A moment later, she turned back, her face back to her usual mischievous smile. “Anyhow, I guess I’ll see you down for lunch then.” She said as she walked out of his alcove. Just before she stepped out, she turned to cast a last look back. “By the way, Lethos. You owe me one now. I’ll let you know when I feel like collecting.” With that, she was gone.

Lethos simply shook his head. Every time he entered her proximity she took full control of the flow of the situation instantly. He took some time to shower and get ready, and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As he expected, he wasn’t able to find her at the tables, but he knew she would be around. Instead, since the majority of students were not present, the tables had all been pushed together and for once, there was no seating division. Sitting next to Harry and Ron, he thanked them for their gift, while they thanked him for the box of muggle Chocolates he had asked Tonks to buy on his behalf.

He allowed the fun of the Christmas lunch to seep into him, and by the end of the Christmas lunch, the discovery from the day before, and the awkwardness he was feeling over his last encounter with Diana had been pushed out of his mind. He was in the middle of finishing his last mug of butterbeer(someone had gone down to Hogsmeade to buy a full barrel of the stuff) when he remembered what he had wanted to talk to Harry about.

“Hey Harry.” Lethos softly said to him. Harry turned to face him. “This may be a really random question to ask but… in the muggle world, were you staying in an orphanage?”

There was a blank look on Harry’s face for a moment, before the look turned into one of apprehension. “No… not really.” Harry said as he looked away.

Lethos immediately could tell from his body language that the matter was rather personal to Harry. “Ah, I understand, I’m really sorry that I asked something that awkward. I must have been mistaken.” He smiled at Harry and nodded, letting him know that he wasn’t planning to continue asking any further.

It was a few minutes later when he heard Harry quietly say, “What was it that made you think so?”

Lethos thought back to the first day on the train. “Your clothes, for one. And well, the truth is that I do come from an orphanage, which I told you on that day, and there was something in the way you looked when I was telling my story that made it seem like you identified with my story, so I thought that was it. I must have been mistaken, of course.”

There was another short silence. “I live with my aunt and uncle.” Harry said. “But I remember your story. I liked it because the feeling I had was similar. The day I found out I had magic was the happiest day of my life.”

Lethos glanced over at the boy. He detected something in the way that Harry had mentioned his relatives, but figured that the situation right now was not the ideal time to pursue that conversation. “Well, here’s to two people whose lives were saved because they discovered magic.” He held his mug of butterbeer in front of Harry and they clinked mugs. “If you are ever in need, just come find me, okay?” He said quietly. Harry did not respond, but his subtle nod let Lethos know he had heard him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are totally wayyyy past the halfway mark now.  
> Next we have Harry's second quidditch match!
> 
> Also, what do you all think about Lethos' condition? There is more to it, but we will slowly unpack it over this and next year.
> 
> For those wondering, yes, I do intend to pair Lethos with Diana at the moment, but that's only gonna happen in Year 2(or 4 for them). I'm still figuring out the dynamics, but they are going to be partners in crime for sure though.


	11. Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lethos gets to give Neville a pep talk!  
> He also uncovers some of the mystery behind the enigma that is Diana.

As the new year passed, the castle began to warm up as winter turned into spring. The other students had come back from their winter break and the quiet castle was once again filled with the noise of its students.

A saturday in late January found Lethos grinning with glee. He had made a breakthrough with his runes just the night before. Now that he actually owned runestones, he had begun to practice inscribing runes onto them to see how he could put the theory he had been working on to a practical use. The library was normally his favourite place to work on his pet projects, but he suspected the rune inscribing would not be a quiet process, and so rather than get on the bad side of Madam Pince, he decided that experimenting in his alcove would be a safer option.

He started in the morning, but by the time he was done, he looked out to realise that it was almost evening. Rarely had he been so absorbed in something that he lost track of time this way. Nevertheless, he was pleased as he had finally completed what he had intended to do. Lying in front of him were two runestones that had been covered in runic inscriptions. Testing out his experiment once more, he reached forward and took one of them, holding onto it and willing his magic into the runestone. Immediately, the other runestone started to emit a low but obvious tone. As soon as he stopped channeling his magic, the tone stopped. He pumped his fist into the air. As he had hoped, he had managed to create something similar to a pager. He was one step to improving the communication gaps he saw in the wizarding world.

The satisfaction from his work also came with the realisation that he had essentially skipped two meals, as his stomach growled. Leaving the Ravenclaw common room, he headed down towards the dungeons. Fred and George had informed him how to get into the kitchens, and he figured he could easily grab a small meal just before curfew rather than starve through the night.

He was just near the library when he heard a loud thump and someone crying out in pain. He walked towards the direction of the sound to see Neville lying on the ground, struggling to stand.

“Neville!” He cried out, quickly walking to the younger boy’s side. As he approached, he realised that the boy’s feet were essentially stuck together. Taking out his wand, he cast the counter curse as he helped Neville to his feet. “Who did this to you?” He asked.

“Malfoy,” Neville said nervously. “He told me that he had been looking for someone to practice the Leg-Locker curse on.”

Lethos grimaced. He hated bullies. “Do you want to report this or something?” He asked.

Neville shook his head vehemently. “That will probably cause more trouble. I don’t want to give Malfoy more reason to come after me.”

Lethos took Neville by the hand and sat him down on a nearby bench. “Look, I really think you shouldn’t let someone like Malfoy push you around like this. Bullies get bolder each time they get away with bullying someone else.”

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t stand up to him. The hat placed me in Gryffindor but I know I’m not brave enough. Malfoy’s already told me that more than enough.” Neville looked miserable.

Lethos closed his eyes for a moment before speaking, “You know, I had a long conversation with the Sorting Hat on the first day of school. I don’t know if you remember that.” Neville nodded. “So one thing important that I thought you should know is that I asked the hat, very specifically, what he used as criteria for sorting students. You know what he told me? He told me that he sorted students based on the potential he saw in each one.”

Neville looked up at this. “Potential?” He repeated.

“Yep.” Lethos looked at him encouragingly. “Which means that the hat saw within you not courage today, but the courage that you would gain by being in Gryffindor, by believing in where he placed you. Now I know right now you are always unsure about your place in the House of the Brave, but did you know that the hat belonged to Godric Gryffindor himself? So you have nothing to fear at all. If the hat says you belong there, then you belong there, who cares what Malfoy says. Gryffindor believes in you. I believe in you. I’m sure Hermione, Ron and Harry also do. So the next time he ever says that you don’t belong there, let your potential grow by letting him know who exactly he’s talking to.”

Neville smiled. “Thanks Lethos.”

“Hey, I’m just glad I found you when I did.” Lethos replied.

“No,” Neville shook his head. “I meant, thanks for looking after me this whole year. I know that you have been trying to get me to believe in myself more, and after today, I will try, I promise.”

Lethos smiled, when a thought crossed his mind. He reached into his robes and took out one of the pager runestones he had just made. “Take this,” he said as he placed the runestone into Neville’s hand. “Try concentrating and channeling your magic into that runestone.”

Within seconds, the other runestone in Lethos’ hand started to emit a tone. Lethos held it up to show Neville. “This is my latest invention. In the muggle world, there's a device that muggles use to let someone else know when they need to contact them. I know I said that you need to stand up for yourself, but you also need to be smart. When you realise that you aren’t able to handle a situation anymore, send your magic into this and it will let me know to come find you.”

Neville clasped the stone with appreciation. “Thanks again, Lethos.”

Lethos stood up. “Alright. So do you think you will be fine heading up to your room yourself? I have to go get some food first.” Neville nodded and walked off, heading toward the Gryffindor common room. “Now if I could only figure out how to set some way to pass on an actual message...” Lethos continued walking to the kitchens, his mind wandering back to his pet project once again.

End February came around and Lethos was reminded that Harry would be playing Quidditch again. That Saturday morning, he was having breakfast when Roger, who was seated next to him, spoke. “Are you going to try to reserve seats early?”

Lethos thought about it and shook his head. He was worried something similar to the last time Harry had played would happen again, so this time he wanted to be somewhere he could act if needed. “I will probably go early, but I think I will sit with Ron and Hermione this time.” Roger looked at him weirdly, but shrugged. “As long as you sit with the Ravenclaws during the Ravenclaw games. We don’t want to provide Dave with any reason to stir up trouble.” The seventh year prefect had been watching Lethos like a hawk in recent days, waiting to catch him in case Lethos slipped up. Lethos just found it amusing.

“Diana will be pretty upset she won’t be able to sit with you though.” Lethos snapped his head to glare at Roger, who was grinning from ear to ear. Lethos had been sitting with Diana for the last two Ravenclaw games that he attended to support Roger and Cho. Both times he had been more distracted by her than anything on the pitch.

“She can sit with you guys, or someone else, I’m sure.” Lethos said casually.

Roger turned to look at Lethos in confusion. “You know that no one will sit with her.” He said.

Lethos got that plunging feeling in his stomach like he usually had when he missed something big. “Say what? Why not?”

“She’s on Dave’s unworthy list. Why do you think the only people who talk to her are Penelope and I?” Roger replied incredulously.

Lethos allowed his fork to drop back on his plate. He thought back to all his interactions with her, and suddenly it all made sense. Why she was always under that charm, the way she had talked to him that day in his alcove. “All this time, I never noticed...” He groaned. “Wait, why is she even on the list?”

Roger opened his mouth to speak, but a voice from Lethos’ other side spoke. “I think I’ll take this, Roger.” Lethos turned to see Diana sitting next to him. Roger simply nodded. “I actually thought you were trying to pretend not to know so I wouldn’t feel awkward, but who knew that you didn’t even know.” Diana laughed. “Either way, I’ve seen the books on magical genealogy on your shelves. You actually should have realised this even before this conversation. Think back. What’s my family name?”

“Avery.” Lethos’ eyes flashed as he released why the name was familiar. “So your family is one of the Sacred Twenty Eight? It didn’t occur to me earlier.”

“Right. And if you do follow my family history, one thing you will find out is that the Averys have been strong practitioners of Dark Magic. I believe I even had an uncle or something who was a Death Eater. The point is, every Avery for generations have almost always been sorted into Slytherin. I am the first Avery in about a hundred years to be sorted into something other than Slytherin.” Diana sighed. “My family wasn’t too pleased about it, but thankfully, my parents weren’t the kind to be too upset about things like this.”

“That would explain why you were so familiar with the wards. You were expected to go to Slytherin.” Lethos commented.

“Right. But even after my sorting, a lot of people here never trusted me. They knew about my family’s history, of course, and normally, people who share my last name are usually associated with Slytherin. Dave’s predecessor took the opportunity to turn the Ravenclaw dorm against me, similar to how he tried for you when you first came in. But unlike you, I saw no merit in fighting him. So I simply learnt how to cast the notice-me-not-spell and just stayed out of everyone’s way.” Diana shrugged as she finished her story.

Lethos was appalled by the story. He opened his mouth to speak, but Diana placed her finger on his lips. “If the next words out of your mouth are pity words, I don’t need or want them. You can play big brother with those Gryffindor firsties all you want, but not with me.”

“Actually, I was going to ask you to stop being invisible around me.” Lethos grinned. “I know you don’t want me to coddle you, but if you’re going to hang around me all the time, which i strongly suspect you have, I would rather be able to see you.”

Diana grinned. “Is that a confession? You want to start seeing me?” Lethos blushed furiously, realising he had set himself up for the tease. “I meant that I would like to be able to see the person I am trying to talk to.” He ended up saying.

The table laughed, and eventually, Lethos joined in with their laughter. Shortly after, they left the Great Hall to walk towards the Quidditch Pitch. Upon reaching the pitch, Lethos waved goodbye to his friends and walked in the direction of the Gryffindor stands, looking for Hermione and Neville.

“The baby Gryffs are seated on your left.” Diana whispered in his ear.

It took all Lethos’ willpower to not jump as he turned to look at Diana with an annoyed look. “Are you ever going to stop doing that?”

“Nope.” She replied with a grin. “It’s boring to sit with the Quidditch nerds, so I tagged along with you. I WOULD have remained silent through the whole match, but I’m just doing what you told me and letting you know when I am around.”

Rolling his eyes, Lethos walked closer to where Hermione, Ron and Neville were, and found two seats somewhere near the back for Diana and himself, ensuring that he would still be in listening range if required. 

He glanced up, surprised to see that instead of Madam Hooch refereeing the match, it was Snape. No wonder Hermione and Ron look so stressed. They likely still think that Snape is out to get Harry. Lethos thought to himself. As the game started however, he noticed the person behind Ron poking him in the back of the head.

“Oh man… Malfoy...” He groaned when he recognised who the person was.

Diana glanced over at what Lethos was looking at. “A Weasley and a Malfoy. That’s going to be trouble.”

Lethos watched as the conversation got more heated. Malfoy was obviously trying to rile Ron up, while Ron was doing his best to ignore him and focus on watching Harry(or Snape). The colour of his face, though, told Lethos that the redhead was not going to be able to take more. It was then that Malfoy switched targets to Neville, who was seated next to Ron.

“What you say doesn’t matter, Malfoy,” Neville said with the most confident voice he could muster. “Godric Gryffindor himself decided I was good enough to be in Gryffindor and that’s good enough for me.”

Lethos burst into a bright smile, but was distracted momentarily when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry dive for the snitch. Malfoy made another comment, and Ron, reaching his limit, turned around and launched himself at Malfoy. Neville saw Crabbe and Goyle moving to help, and in that second, launched in as well.

Internally cheering the two Gryffindors on, Lethos pulled out his wand and quietly cast a Leg-Locker curse on both Crabbe and Goyle, helping to make the fight a little more fair for Neville. 

“Make sure he doesn’t catch you doing that...” Diana warned in a low tone.

Lethos shrugged. The fight was over almost as soon as it had begun, and Neville and Ron were both grinning at each other as Malfoy and his two bodyguards walked away, all wincing as they walked. “I cast the counter curse after the first punch. Crabbe and Goyle are so slow that they wouldn’t even have noticed.”

The stands around them were bustling now as Harry was mobbed by his team in celebration, the snitch in his hand. “You just like to stick your nose into other people’s business.” Diana said.

“Said the pot to the kettle?” Lethos shot back.

“Touche. You’ve definitely improved since the blubbering idiot I first met during the first match.” She raised her eyebrow at him. He neglected to respond, simply choosing to stare at everything else except the pretty blonde next to him. He realised a moment later that it was a mistake, because the next thing he felt was a warm sensation on his cheek as Diana gave him a small kiss. “It just means I have to work harder to unnerve you.” She said, moments before Lethos realised she had disappeared again. Shaking his head to clear the blush he was sure he had, he looked around one last time before heading to find Harry to congratulate him.


	12. The Alchemist?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lethos finds out about the year's mystery!  
> And Dave starts his attack! How will things turn out?

Lethos got to his feet after being knocked on his butt for at least the fourth time that day. Flitwick waited patiently for him to stand up as he got into a ready position. “Keep your mind focused, we need to keep trying to see if pushing your body past the limit will help you lift those limits.” Flitwick advised.

Lethos nodded, standing by to cast the protego again. Flitwick had moved on to using the banishing charm now, in an effort to use stronger spells to put more strain on Lethos’ magic. He started casting them in quick succession, while Lethos did his best to dodge and weave, casting protego for those spells he could not avoid. As Flitwick sent a barrage of three Depulsos, Lethos twisted his body to avoid the first two and cast Depulso for the third. Unfortunately, his magic sputtered again, and the next second, he was sent flying into the soft cushion they had set up behind him.

“I would think that should be enough for today.” Flitwick said as he stepped closer to Lethos. Lethos nodded, though his jaw remained clenched. It was now the fourth lesson that he was having with Flitwick, and despite Flitwick’s constant positivity, he knew that he was not making progress. It truly seemed that no matter what it was that was causing his magic to fail, it would not be getting any better. He realised it more than anything now. The minute he could feel his heart rate going up was the moment he knew the next spell would fail.

Flitwick must have noticed the conflict on his face. “Have hope, Lethos. You are still young and I know that you may be pressured to perform well, but every single person has their limitations. I want you to know that even if we don’t find a way to bypass this, you still are one of the best casters that I have ever come to know. Either way, I have seen the way you work in class. Your life is unlikely to be one of a dueller or Auror, so this would rarely affect your work in the future.

Lethos nodded. “Thanks Professor.” Flitwick’s words made him think about the current state of the Ravenclaw dorm. “Professor, this may sound random but… in general, how involved are the teachers in the ongoings of the student dorms and common rooms?”

Flitwick thought about it. “Well, in general we have rarely needed to step in unless we are specifically looking for a student, and even then, that is rare as we would be more likely to ask one of the prefects to fetch said student for us. We usually let the prefects of each house decide how to manage the students in their free time, as we know how much the presence of a teacher can stress out the students. Why do you ask?”

Lethos thought fast. “I think some of the first years were asking if teachers could enter the common room and I guess the question just got stuck in my head.” If Flitwick didn’t know about the situation, he wasn't the one to say anything. He would deal with the situation on his own. Picking up his bag, he muttered a hasty goodbye to Flitwick and headed off. In his haste, he did not realise the apprehensive and pondering look on the Professor’s face as he was leaving.

Ten minutes later, he walked into the library. Since the last Quidditch match, Hermione had started insisting that Ron and Harry come for all Friday sessions, and the pair, knowing their grades heavily depended on her, agreed. The four Gryffindors were already there, but to his surprise, though Neville was already working on his Potions essay, Ron, Hermione and Harry were all flipping through very random books. He noticed a pile of books stacked behind them that he assumed they had already gone through.

“Okayyyy, it really looks like you guys are doing a treasure hunt or something.” Lethos said.

Immediately, the three jumped up, making a very bad attempt to hide the books they were searching through. Lethos raised an eyebrow. This behaviour was something he could imagine Ron and Harry pulling off, but Hermione? “Look, if that’s something you’re trying to hide from me specifically, you don’t need to. I’ll intentionally look away. If it’s something you’re trying to hide from EVERYONE, you’re doing a bad job. Regardless, I’m like ninety nine percent sure that you three forgot that Neville is sitting beside you and I know by now he should have figured out what you are looking for…”

Neville immediately blushed red and tried to keep his head low, confirming what Lethos had just said. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, before making up her mind. “We’ve been trying to find out who a specific person is. We think he’s linked to something going on inside the school right now.”

Lethos nodded. “Okay, how long have you been searching and who’s this person? I’ve always told you I’m willing to help.”

This time Hermione hesitated just a little longer, but in the end she responded. “Nicholas Flamel.”

“The alchemist?” Lethos asked.

The jaws dropped on all three of the younger students. “Months! We spent months researching and reading BOOKS when we could have just asked the walking encyclopedia.” Ron moaned.

Hermione, however, looked as if something had occurred to her. She immediately turned, running off to another section of the library.

Harry turned to look at Lethos. “What do you know about Nicholas Flamel?”

Lethos tried to recall what he remembered from the books he'd read before. “Honestly speaking, I don't remember much, only the stuff I found interesting during the time I found alchemy interesting. I gave up fast though cause it's almost impossible for someone to become an alchemist. I know he's crazy old though. At least six hundred years. He's worked closely with Dumbledore too.”

Harry looked like he was about to ask more, but Hermione returned, holding a thick, old book. “I never thought of looking for it in this book. I had borrowed a copy of this out of the library months ago for light reading, but with all the research we had been doing, I never got around to reading and just returned it.”

She continued to flip the pages. “Here! Nicholas Flamel is the only known make of the Philosopher’s Stone!”

“The what?” Ron, Harry and Neville, who was now abandoning any pretense of not listening in.

“The Philosopher’s Stone is basically the foundation of alchemy. It transforms metal to gold, it creates the Elixir of Life, a nifty potion that makes a person immortal, and currently the ONLY known stone belongs to Nicholas Flamel, which is the reason why I said earlier that I gave up on it. You need a stone like that if you want to go far in alchemy.” Lethos cut in to give the three boys a summarised version, figuring that he should step in before a furious Hermione threw the book at them.

“That’s what the dog must be guarding. Flamel must have asked Dumbledore to keep it safe here in Hogwarts, so he got the teachers together to set up the different protections!” Hermione exclaimed.

“A stone that can make gold and prevent you from dying? It’s no wonder Snape is after it.” Harry cut in.

“Woah woah woah.” Lethos cut into the excited teens’ conversation. “Okay, I helped with figuring out who Flamel is, please at least fill me in about what in the world is going on.”

The next twenty minutes were spent as the Trio did their best to explain in full detail to Lethos about all they had heard, seen and deduced over the year. At the end of it, Lethos was well confused. He was originally confident that Snape was innocent, but he also knew that Harry would not lie about his overheard conversations between Snape and Quirrell.

“This is a lot to take in… Now I can kind of understand exactly why you guys didn’t believe me when I said Snape was innocent that time.” Lethos said.

“Harry’s also noticed that Snape has been following him around a lot recently.” Ron said.

“How so?” Lethos asked Harry.

“He’s just always there. When I walk down the corridor between classes, or when I go for Quidditch practice. He will sometimes be walking in the opposite direction, sometimes he will just be hanging around when I am nearby. Thankfully I’ve always had someone with me those times, so I think he didn’t dare to try anything.” Harry replied. Lethos nodded as he listened. Something about this piece of information nagged at him, but he couldn’t quite place what the issue was.

Their intense conversation was interrupted as a deep loud thump came from beside them. They all looked up to see Hagrid shuffling into view, picking up a book he had dropped.

“Hagrid!” Ron, Harry and Hermione greeted the gamekeeper enthusiastically. “What brings you to the library?” Ron asked.

“Just lookin around, that’s all. What about you lot?” He replied very shiftily. “Yer not still caught up in searching for Nicholas Flamel are you?”

Ron scoffed. “We’ve already figured that out. We know that the dog is guarding the Philosopher’s -”

Hagrid shushed him, glancing nervously at Lethos and Neville. He leaned over and whispered something in Ron’s ear, before nodding to the rest and going off.

Ron waited until Hagrid was out of earshot, before speaking. “He said that he doesn’t want to talk here, and to come find him in his hut later.”

Hermione nodded. “And I figure that it would not be ideal for either Lethos or Neville to be there.”

Lethos just shrugged. “You guys go ahead. This is your adventure anyway, and I will let you guys handle the front line. Do keep me informed though, cause I really do want to help you out.”

The three nodded and walked off, whispering in hushed tones to figure out what they would ask Hagrid.

“You don’t agree with them, do you.” Neville said solemnly when they had left. Lethos turned to him. Appraising him for a moment, he nodded. 

“Honestly, it’s more like me making sure we cover all bases. I let them explore the idea that Snape is the one doing all this, and I will do my own investigation and see where that turns up.” Lethos explained.

There was a long pause. “How can I help?” Neville finally asked.

Lethos took a moment to think. “Be with them, see if you can help them along with anything, and most importantly, whenever you learn that they are going to try to go to where the dog is, contact me immediately. I’m not asking you to spy, of course. Let them know you will contact me. I really doubt they will stop you cause they seem to trust me enough. But I’m worried they may not wait.”

“I trust you though.” Neville said quietly.

Lethos smiled. “And me, you.”

Lethos snapped awake due to the sound of murmuring. He gauged that the time was somewhere around two or three in the morning, so it was too early for it to be one of his roommates moving around. He immediately got up, grabbing his wand off the bedside table and moving off to the side, to the corner of the space. If the ones coming in were hostile, he could catch them off guard from the side.

He had just seen the curtain being pushed aside when there was a loud thump and he heard a pair of yelps coming from the other side. A moment later, the curtain just fell back in place. Lethos stepped forward, pulling the curtain aside to see two of the seventh year Ravenclaws crumpled in a heap in the middle of the area. Lethos realised the wards that Diana had placed up was probably the reason for this. He decided to thank her for it at a later time.

“What the heck?” Roger, looking bleary eyed, was peeking out from his alcove. Lethos walked towards the two seventh years, who were still sitting on the floor and looking stunned. Lethos pointed his wand right in their faces.

“Go back and tell Dave that if he wants to pick a fight, he can very well come himself. Now get out.” He cast the levitation spell, lifting the two boys and tossing them out of the room. By the time he turned around, he saw that Roger had already come out of his alcove, wand at the ready.

“You really did a number on them.” Roger whistled.

Lethos shook his head. “It wasn’t me. Diana helped me cast some charms on my alcove the other day. They activated before I could do anything. I probably would have done the same thing though.” Internally, he wondered if that was true. If caught unawares, would he have been able to remain calm enough so that his magic wouldn’t short out?

“This is bad...” Lethos turned when he heard a soft voice coming from beside him. Joel was standing at the entrance to his alcove, obviously having watched the entire thing. He continued to speak, “Dave is going to get revenge on us. He’ll tell the whole house to gang up on us. You may be a good fighter, but the others are a lot older and more experienced… We won’t be able to do anything!”

Lethos looked at Joel. “Then what would you choose to do? Keep your head down while the people around you suffer? Like your friends who till today cannot even talk to anyone in the house?” Lethos gestured to the alcoves of the last two boys of the third year dorm. “It’s because people like you keep bowing down to Dave and pretending that nothing is happening that he’s able to do all this.” Lethos angrily stormed back into his alcove. He looked back just as he was at the entrance. “I’m going to make sure that this ideology of a ‘Perfect Ravenclaw’ is torn down. I remember McGonagall telling me this very clearly on the first day of school. My Hogwarts house is supposed to be my family away from home, a place of warmth and laughter and support. Not one that makes me feel like I am too afraid to try anything. You’ve lived in fear of people like Dave for so long… maybe you need to look at yourself to find out what exactly you are looking for here as well.”

With that, he walked into the alcove, leaving Joel to dwell in his thoughts. Turning to his bed, though, he was surprised to see a single piece of parchment. Picking it up, he read it and smiled. “Thank you for standing up for every one of us. We will stand beside you when the time comes. Your third year roommates, Samuel and Elijah.”

Lying back on his bed, Lethos smiled. Even if Joel didn’t get the courage to break out from his fear, Lethos was glad that at least he managed to give hope to the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOOO those who rmb the canon book will rmb that it was the arrival of Neville at the Gryff Common Room that starts the whole series of events that result in Harry realising who Flamel is.  
> But since Lethos intercepted Neville in the last chapter, that never happened!
> 
> Also next week! Lethos gets into a confrontation? but with who? (Yes it's pretty obvious)


	13. Ravenclaw United

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lethos helps to deal with the fallout from the Norbert issue.
> 
> The clash of ideology in the Ravenclaw house also hits its peak!

The moment Lethos walked into the Great Hall that morning, he realised that something was wrong. The entire Gryffindor table, usually bustling and rowdy, was completely and totally silent. Lethos walked quickly to find his friends at the Ravenclaw table. “What in the world happened to the Gryffindors?” He asked Roger.

“The rumor is going around that some of the first years lost Gryffindor a hundred and fifty points for being out of bed last night.” Roger replied.

Just then, some students walked into the Great Hall, and the question of WHICH first years was answered for him. Harry walked into the Great Hall alone, and Lethos could swear he felt the animosity of the Gryffindor table emanating at him. Lethos could only watch as Harry walked down the long hall, enduring the fierce stares of the Gryffindors and the cat calls and insults of the Slytherins. The boy walked all the way to the end of the table, joining Hermione, who had been sitting very quietly with her head hidden behind a book.

Lethos sighed. He knew going to find the group now would not be useful to anyone. He only hoped that at least one of them would appear for Friday’s usual session so he could at least get to hear the story straight from them.

Lethos was in fact, genuinely surprised to see that all four turned up for the session. Not wanting to push them, Lethos didn’t raise the issue with them, and the five friends just started to do their individual work.

After about an hour, it was Neville who spoke first. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Lethos asked, keeping his voice neutral.

“Letting you down. You said you trusted in me and I did something like that…” The young boy replied, his face downcast. Beside him, the others looked just as crestfallen.

“To be honest, I don’t know what happened yet, and after all we’ve been through together, I am not going to lose my trust in you just cause of the rumors of what others say. Why don’t the four of you tell me the full story of what happened? And trust me when I say that no matter what, your secret will be safe with me.” Lethos said kindly.

There was a pause, before the gang started filling him in about the past few days. Lethos was brought up to speed on Hagrid’s attempt at raising a dragon, and the Trio’s plan to get Charlie to take the dragon away. He was impressed to hear how Neville stepped in to help the Trio out when Ron was bitten by the dragon and cringed when he heard about how they had gotten caught. Once the four had finished telling the story, they fell silent, as if waiting for Lethos to make a verdict.

“The only question I have is, why didn’t you let me know that all this was going on?” Lethos asked.

The four squirmed uncomfortably. “We just didn’t want Hagrid to get into trouble.” Harry explained. “And we weren’t really sure if you would tell the professors if we were to let you know. Neville wanted to let you know, after he learnt about what happened, but we convinced him not to tell you since it was all happening that night.”

“Look,” Lethos started, “Before I go any further, let’s get something out of the way. I am not a professor, and at least for now, I am not a prefect. Even so, I am your friend, first and foremost. And that means that if you come to me and confide something in me, I can promise you that I will not break that trust no matter what.” He held the gaze of each of them as he said this.

“Next, I am not disappointed at what the four of you did.” He saw the faces of the four lift in surprise. “In fact, I am very proud of it. Harry, Ron, Hermione, the three of you saw a friend in real need and were willing to put yourselves on the line to help him, when you could have easily walked away. Neville, when you were caught by McGonagall, what did you say?”

“Nothing, I couldn’t let the truth come out.” Neville replied.

“That’s right.” Lethos said proudly. “You were brave enough to stand your ground in the face of one of the sternest professors, all in order to protect your friends. That’s the Gryffindor spirit within you.”

Lethos shook his head. “The only issue I have is the fact that you all got caught the way you did. Leaving the cloak behind was careless. The plan is only over AFTER you return to a safe spot.” Again, the four students looked surprised. “Which is why the only thing I want you all to promise me is that if you ever do something like this, ever again, for any reason, let me know. Neville has a way to contact me.”

Having heard Lethos’ viewpoint, the younger students looked a lot more relaxed now, and the five friends returned to their studies, the conversation livelier than when they first started.

“Do you think that you could teach me whatever disillusionment charm you keep using?” Lethos randomly asked one day. He was studying together with Diana in the common room when he spotted Dave glaring at him. Remembering the wards Diana had helped him cast had protected him the last time, he figured he could try to increase his repertoire of spells.

The girl looked up at him, a confused look on her face. “Why?” She asked.

“I was just thinking that it might be needed in the future...” Lethos replied.

“I told you before that this spell is a family spell. I can’t just go around teaching it to everyone.” Diana scowled at him.

Lethos shrugged. “And here I was willing to offer to come visit you during the holidays in exchange for that.”

Diana looked up. In that split second, Lethos saw a conflict of emotions run across her face. “As much as I really want you to, I don’t think coming to my house is ever going to be a good idea.”

Lethos thought about it, remembering who her family was. “Oh yea, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that...”

“So that’s it? You aren’t going to say something heroic like ‘No matter what your parents do to me, I will still be there for you?’” Diana teased. Lethos had initially jerked his head up in reaction to her response, but grimaced when he realised she was teasing him. “Just kidding.” Diana grinned. “I can’t teach you the spell, but what I can do is if you ever need me to cast the spell for you, let me know. I don’t mind having a date in London to look forward to over the holidays!”

Lethos knew immediately when the four rushed into the library that Friday that something was up. It was the week just prior to the examinations, but he was aware that Harry, Hermione and Neville were supposed to have carried out their detention the night before. There was a hushed discussion as Harry filled Lethos in on what had happened in the Forbidden Forest during their detention. Lethos blanched at hearing that. Since when punishments shift from mundane tasks like cleaning trophies to throwing eleven year olds into the Forest! Once they finished telling the story, Lethos frowned. Something was not adding up.

Lethos thought for a moment before speaking. “So you’re saying that Voldemort-” Ron hissed, “is using Snape to get the stone for him, so he can use the stone to come back.”

“And then Voldemort will come to finish me off.” Harry said, deadpanned.

A chill ran down Lethos’ spine at how matter-of-fact Harry had said it. Lethos got to his feet. “I am going to do some digging on my end to see if I can uncover any information. In the meantime, the four of you, study, do your exams and if anything happens, alert me and we can come together to deal with the situation as a team.” Nodding a farewell to them, Lethos briskly walked out of the library.

He walked with a purpose to his destination, thoughts running through his mind as he attempted to piece all the new pieces of information together. Several theories were put together and ripped apart in his thoughts as his mind attempted different ways to fit the information so it would all make sense. Before he realised it, he was standing in front of his destination.

Taking in a deep breath, he knocked on the door. “Come in.” came a low voice in reply. Lethos pushed open the door to reveal the potions master slowly stirring a potion in a large cauldron. “Reilly. Are we here to make accusations again?”

“It’s Quirrell, isn’t it.” Lethos didn’t bother with the niceties. “He’s the one trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Once again, Reilly, I sincerely hope you came here with some form of proof before throwing accusations around like that.” Snape continued to work on his potion.

“I don’t have proof. But I don’t need proof because I know that you are aware. What I don’t understand is why you would intentionally place yourself so that you look like the bad guy.” That made Snape stop stirring. He turned to face Lethos.

“And who told you this exactly?” Snape said evenly. If Lethos had been more careful, he would have realised the coldness in his voice.

“Harry told me-” Lethos started.

“Harry Potter is nothing more than an arrogant glory hound who is incapable of listening to rules. And if you are placing belief into the words of a misled child, perhaps I overestimated you on that first day. Ten points from Ravenclaw.” Lethos was stunned. He had clearly stepped on a landmine. “Get out of my office, Reilly, or I will make your ‘friends’ punishment in the Forest seem like a casual walk led by our gentle Headmaster.”

Immediately rushing out of the office, Lethos only slowed down when he was far away from the dungeons. He cursed. He should have been aware from their last encounter just how sensitive Snape had been about Harry, and should have managed the conversation better. Now, not only had he screwed up the conversation, he had blown any chances of getting more information from Snape. Thinking about the conversation, he tried to analyse the words Snape had used as he entered the Ravenclaw common room.

Lethos was so deep in thought he did not realise something was up until, at the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red at the corner of his eye as a spell flew toward him. Lethos was just about to dodge out of the way when a voice next to him yelled out, “Protego!” A silvery shield popped up in front of him and the spell splashed harmly against the shield.

“A stunning spell Dave? Really?” Diana said as she dispelled her shield. “Attacking when your opponent isn’t prepared is low, even for you.” She turned to Lethos, scowling. “And you. What am I, your personal bodyguard? First my wards protect you, then I have to? Get yourself together.”

Lethos nodded. Inwardly, he cursed himself. He was so distracted by the situation that he had forgotten that Snape had taken points away from him. No doubt that had been what had triggered Dave. He looked up to see Dave and four of his seventh year buddies standing and facing Diana and himself. “Look Dave, if it’s about the points that were taken away, can we deal with it later? I really am occupied with something at the moment.”

Dave turned purple with anger. “You dare?” He raged. “For almost the whole year now, I have watched as you consort with troublemakers like Harry Potter and his gang, the Weasley twins, Diana,” Diana gripped her wand tighter in fury. “And I knew it was a matter of time before you slipped up.” He turned to face the rest of the common room, and Lethos realised the room was a lot more full than on a normal Friday. Dave must have rallied his supporters to come over as soon as he got the news about the points deduction. “Everyone here! Lethos has once again proven himself to be unworthy of the Ravenclaw name! Today we have the final proof. He, like the unworthy before him, has cost us house points, damaging the chances that we have for Ravenclaw to win the House Cup!”

“And why in the world is that so important?” came a voice from the side. Roger and Penelope walked out, pushing through the crowd to stand beside Lethos and Diana. Penelope was the one who spoke. “Ravenclaws. When Rowena Ravenclaw built this school, she did not do it alone. She had the help of three other powerful witches and wizards. Similarly today, we cannot follow this mindset that Dave is trying so hard to push, because it makes us isolated, it makes us seem strong only on the outside, when we are actually weak.”

Roger stepped forward. “When we play in Quidditch, every single person on the team matters. And if say, our seeker is young and needs experience, it is not the seeker’s job alone to improve. We work together as a team to help our seeker grow, to push ourselves further than we can as individuals.”

Lethos nodded at the two of them. “Dave, I sincerely do not know why it is that you are pushing this agenda, but can you not see the pain and coldness that fills this House? No one can trust anyone else. If any of our firsties get into trouble, they would be more likely to hide the fact and keep it bottled up rather than share it with those who are older and can help. This room is supposed to be a common space for us to be able to talk, share and help one another. Instead, all I see is suspicion and fear.”

Dave looked at Lethos with hatred. “This is and always has been tradition! Ravenclaw prefects from years on have passed down the task of Ravenclaw winning the House Cup to the prefect in charge, and yet, we as Ravenclaw have not won the Cup for more than a decade! It is an insult to us as the smartest House if we are not able to secure the House Cup!”

Lethos shook his head. “So you would throw someone down a pit just for the sake of winning a trophy?” He asked. “Your so called strategy isn’t even working! As you just said, even after all you have done, even this year, Slytherin is in a clear lead!”

“It has to be done! The people need a reason to keep motivated when studying. Seeing the way the unworthy are treated motivates them so that they can keep in mind that that’s what’s in store for them if they mess up.” Dave replied. His eyes were starting to look more unhinged.

“The thought itself is disgusting.” Lethos said. “Have you even thought about the people whom you do this to? Eliza? Diana? Samuel? Elijah?”

“Eliza chose to leave on her own accord. As for Samuel and Elijah, their ‘punishment’ is already over, so I don’t know what exactly you mean.” Dave scoffed.

It was that moment that one more person came out of the crowd and stood next to Lethos. He glanced over to see a face he had only caught glimpses of through the year. “What you did to us, we will never be able to forget.” Lethos was hearing Elijah speak for the first time. “Thanks to the way you treated us last year, neither Samuel nor I were able to see this place as safe. Every day, we stay in our room, cooped up because we are scared, we are paranoid that we do something wrong again and get thrown back into the pit.” He glanced over at Lethos. “Samuel is transferring to Beauxbatons at the end of the year, because he no longer sees Hogwarts as a viable option. I too was contemplating that but… Thanks to Lethos here, I am starting to see hope in the Ravenclaw house.”

Lethos stepped forward. “We intend to tear down this regime of yours. The House that Roger, Penelope and I envision is one where you have the freedom to chase your own pursuits, to provide a friendly space for exchange of ideas and growth of creativity, and a place that each and every person can call a safe space. I’m not asking us to be like the Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs or the Slytherins. What I am asking is that together, we get rid of the idea of a ‘model’ Ravenclaw, and make one where everyone feels comfortable.”

“Now you’ve crossed a line! You are going against years and years of Ravenclaw tradition! You are unworthy. Everyone, from now on, Lethos is declared unworthy! He should be treated as such.” Dave looked like he was about to lose it.

“The Quidditch team will not agree to that.” Roger said. As he spoke, his teammates stood up and walked behind him, showing their support.

“Neither will the fifth years.” Penelope said as her friends rallied behind her.

“And those of us who you are already calling unworthy have no reason to listen to your words.” Diana spat at Dave with venom. Samuel shuffled up to beside Elijah, as more of the students who had suffered at the hands of Dave and his predecessors stood up to stand beside their group. Soon, almost the entire house was standing on the same side as Lethos, leaving only Dave and his seventh year friends on the other side. Dave looked furious, though his friends were starting to look unsettled.

“Come on, Dave. It’s almost the end of the year. Just step down quietly and let us handle it from here.” Lethos reached out, offering his hand. 

“NO!” Dave smacked away Lethos’ hand and raised his wand. At close range and taken by surprise, Lethos did his best to summon a shield, but before he was even able to speak the incantation, a voice yelled out, “ENOUGH!”

The whole common room went silent. Flitwick stormed into the centre of the room. Dave’s eyes shone with glee. “Professor! I am so glad you have arrived. Lethos here is leading the students in an uprising! He intends to-” Dave stopped speaking in mid sentence as Flitwick cast a silencing spell at him.

“Mr Turner, I am appalled at your actions, though I do acknowledge I must have played a large part in allowing the situation to get this far. Remain silent, and I will deal with you later.” The normally jovial Flitwick currently had a scowl on his face that no Ravenclaw had ever seen before. Dave nodded and kept his head bowed.

Flitwick hopped onto a table, elevating himself above the crowd. “Before I go further, I would like to apologise to each and every one of the students here. In Hogwarts, we teachers chose prefects with the intention of allowing them to lead you students to be the best that you can be. Yet, it is fact that my choices for not only Mr Turner, but the prefect before him, is what led to the situation we have today. It was never my intention for Ravenclaw to be run like a dictatorship. Each eagle should have the chance to spread its wings, and if that causes you to slip up here and there, then school is the one place where it should be safe to do so. And yet, not just those here, but those in the years prior, have not been given that opportunity. For that, I apologise from the bottom of my heart.”

He paused for a moment before continuing. “In light of all that has happened, I will be removing Mr Turner from his role as the prefect in charge of this House. In his place, I would like to recommend Miss Clearwater, who has shown that she is the ideal person to lead us in reforming our house, to be the new prefect in charge. Miss Clearwater, I trust that there are no objections?”

Penelope gasped, before shaking her head. “Perfect. Now, I will not be making the same mistake again, so I will be coming in more often to check in on the common room from now on. Please feel free to approach me directly if you have any issues that are not being addressed. In addition, expect me to be following up on the different students who have been subjected to this ‘punishment’ that the prefects have been giving out. I would need to know the extent I need to punish Mr Turner.” Flitwick nodded to the common room, before firmly escorting Dave out of the room. Dave’s year mates had long since dispersed into the crowd.

Lethos watched Penelope as she took up her newly obtained role, giving out instructions on how she expected the behaviour of the students to change, and reinforcing the fact that there would be no more boycotting of students. He turned to see a familiar face, skulking at the doorway, and he walked to greet him.

“I was wondering how Flitwick got to know to come. You went to get him.” He said as soon as he was in earshot.

Joel grimaced. “Was it that obvious?”

Lethos shrugged. “Maybe only to me, or if anyone else was intentionally looking. Regardless, don’t worry about any backlash from them. Dave is probably not coming back to the common room, and the rest will keep their heads low for now.”

Joel nodded. It was a minute later that he spoke. “You were right.” Lethos just cocked his head. “I have always been looking for a place to belong to. When I saw what Dave did to the others, I panicked and cut them all loose so that I could continue pretending that I was part of something bigger, no matter what kind of regiment I was giving myself over to. I chose myself over others.”

“But you still brought Flitwick over.” Lethos said simply. “You prevented a huge fight. Not a single person got injured, thanks to you.”

Joel just bowed his head before walking off. Lethos knew that the boy would have a lot to think about. Exhausted, and seeing that the crowd was starting to disperse, he flashed a grin at his friends, before heading to his alcove to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are reaching the endd!!!! So excited!
> 
> So I've actually finished writing the first draft of the end already and started on the initial paragraphs of year 2!  
> Looking forward to finishing this year with you all!


	14. The Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lethos is rushes in to help Harry with the Sorcerer's Stone, but he has help from an unlikely ally?

Lethos yawned. The past couple of days had passed fast. Dave had been heavily reprimanded by Flitwick, and after he had taken his NEWTS, had been asked to leave the school early. Penelope was doing a good job of maintaining order in the Ravenclaw House. After everything that had happened that day, everyone was happy to comply with what she was trying to implement. Lethos shuddered. Penelope had already hinted that she would be enlisting his help to manage the House next year. He had yet to find a way out of it.

Exams had come and gone, and he had just finished his last paper that afternoon. With school work out of the way, he immediately started on his runes projects. He hunched over his work in his alcove late at night, and was in the midst of figuring out how to further improve the pager rune to be able to leave actual messages, when a low tone started to ring out.

“What’s that?” Diana asked from where she was lounging on his bed. She had taken to hanging out in his alcove, and while his first instinct was for his own privacy, he realised that somewhere down the line, he really enjoyed being in her company, and so now he barely blinked an eye whenever she appeared behind him.

Lethos stood up and headed to the rune which he had placed at his bedside table. It was the complementary rune to the pager rune he had given to Neville. Realising what time it was, Lethos knew he would have to sneak out. Immediately he turned to Diana. “Can I cash in that disillusionment charm now?”

Within minutes, the two stepped outside the Ravenclaw Common Room, where they saw that Neville was nervously glancing around. Grabbing hold of Neville’s arm, Lethos whispered a quick warning to the younger boy not to make any noise, and led him to the nearest classroom. Once the door had been closed, he turned to Neville. “Tell me everything that’s happened.”

Neville told Lethos everything about the conversation that Harry, Ron and Hermione had with Hagrid regarding Fluffy and how they had discovered that Dumbledore was gone for the day. Neville himself had only noticed the three acting suspicious at the end of the night, and had approached them. Thankfully, they were able to talk it out and Neville convinced them that they should at least contact Lethos. He activated the pager rune and rushed over, while the Trio were supposed to take Harry’s invisibility cloak and go check on the room.

Lethos’ mind went into overdrive. The story Neville had told him didn’t make sense, but he couldn’t figure out exactly why. It was Diana who spoke next. “Why in the world is Dumbledore flying to the Ministry when he should be able to Floo straight there?”

With that one sentence, everything clicked into place. He remembered words from his conversations with Snape. “I can say no more”, “misled child”. Snape hadn’t just been being rude. He thought about how easily Snape had caught him in November, and realised why Snape had been helping to paint a huge target on his own back. Even his parting shot to Lethos in their last conversation had been a hint.

“I need to see Snape, right now.” Lethos said. Both Neville and Diana looked at him incredulously. “Neville, you go back to the Gryffindor Common Room and wait for the rest to return-”

“No,” Neville shook his head firmly, “I want to go with you. I want to be of help to my friends.”

Lethos nodded. “Diana, can you-”

“Nope, I am not interested in meeting Snape of all people in the middle of the night.” Diana said with a frown. “I don’t think you should either.”

Lethos looked at her with a sad smile. “It has to be done. It’s fine though, you can go back to the common room, but before you go, could you help to cast the charm on Neville here too?”

Diana smirked. “Only if you give me a pager rune too so I can summon you to me in the future.”

Sighing, Lethos nodded and soon, he and Neville were on the way to the dungeons. Just as they approached, Lethos held Neville back. “Stay here, and only come when I ask you to.” Neville nodded.

This time, Lethos barged straight into the professor’s office without knocking. As he had expected, Snape was seated, waiting for him. “Reilly, disrespecting a teacher by barging in. I should deduct-”

“I know why.” Was all Lethos said. There was a moment’s silence. “Read my mind. It’s faster that way than me explaining everything. I know you are a Legilimens.”

Lethos felt something like a light brush across his mind. “I was right before. You are a good investigator.” Snape breathed.

Lethos nodded. “I’m assuming whatever magic is involved, it will not be pleasant for you if either I or yourself say it out loud.” Snape simply nodded.

“So you knew it was Quirrell all along, but you all did nothing over the year... This… is his plan?” Snape nodded again.

“So now that you know, what are you planning to do?” Snape asked.

“Neville.” Lethos called. Neville entered the room, the disillusion charm sliding away as he revealed himself to Snape. The young boy seemed to cower under his gaze, but stood firmly beside Lethos. “I know you know how to get past the enchantments. Help us to get past them faster so that we can catch up and provide backup if it’s needed.”

“I cannot do that.” Snape said and Lethos felt a surge of frustration. “I can, however, go up to check on the traps since the Headmaster is out of the castle and I am worried.”

Sighing a sigh of relief, Lethos and Neville followed as Snape billowed out of his room. As they neared the third floor, Snape glanced back at Neville. “Perhaps it would be prudent to leave Longbottom behind. I doubt he will be able to provide us with any support and is more likely to interfere.”

“Firstly, Neville is here because I believe in him. Secondly, there’s nothing to interfere with because you are just simply checking on the traps, correct?” Lethos shot back.

Snape looked like he was about to change his mind about helping, when he simply walked off, entering the room. Lethos followed closely behind, seeing the huge three headed dog staring and growling at them. With a swish of his wand, Snape charmed the harp at the corner of the room and it started to play, and Lethos watched as the once ferocious dog tucked its heads on its paws and went to sleep. If not for the situation, he would have found the sight hilarious.

Finding a trapdoor on the floor, Snape gestured for Lethos and Neville to jump in. Lethos swung his legs into the hole and let go, landing softly a few seconds later. A moment after, Neville landed next to him, followed by Snape. This time round, it was Neville who recognised the trap before Snape could speak. “It’s Devil’s Snare!” He said, immediately casting a small blue flame that caused the plant to retreat away from them. “Hermione taught me this trick.”

Lethos saw Snape’s temple twitch as he recognised the flame that had burnt him earlier in the year, and chose to remain silent, simply congratulating Neville with a thumbs up. They then walked down a long stone passageway until they came to a lit chamber, where many small, shiny objects were flitting about in the air.

“Look for one that is big, silver and old.” Snape said. All three searched the cloud of keys for the right one, and when Lethos spotted it, he cast the summoning spell, pulling the key to his hand. He walked to the door and unlocked it.

“These traps don’t seem capable of stopping any adult wizard, much less You-Know-Who,” Neville commented. Snape chose to remain silent.

“That’s because these weren’t the traps designed to slow down Voldemort and Quirrell. These were for Harry, Ron and Hermione.” Lethos practically growled. Neville, confused, just kept silent.

They walked into the next room to see what looked like a literal battle field. The centre was a large black and white chessboard, but the sides of the board were littered with unmoving bodies. At one corner, they saw Ron, lying on his side, tossed over just like the other pieces.

“Neville, go look after Ron. We will continue from here.” Lethos commanded, and after some hesitation, the younger boy agreed. Neville attempted to wake Ron up, while Snape and Lethos walked across the board, opening the door to the next room. They stormed past an unconscious troll and entered the next room, just as Hermione walked into them through a set of black flames.

“Snape!” Hermione exclaimed. “But, you should be... It wasn’t you?”

With a wave of his wand, the black flames receded, allowing both of them to walk up to Hermione. “Is Harry ahead?” Lethos asked. “How long ago did he go through that?”

Hermione looked confused, but she responded. “Just a few moments ago! I had just solved the riddle but there was only one portion, so Harry went ahead while I’m heading back to look after Ron. But what is Snape doing here!”

Lethos nodded. “Neville is looking after Ron, but I agree, you had best go back to see if any help is needed. As for Professor Snape, I told you that I didn’t think it was him. I was right.” He then turned to Snape. “I need that potion.”

Snape nodded, pulling another small bottle from his pocket and handing it to Lethos. “If what we suspect is correct, I cannot continue with you to the next room. I cannot compromise myself.”

Lethos nodded. The potions master gave him a final, indiscernible look before leading Hermione backwards to Ron and Neville. Once they had gone, Lethos took a swig of the potion, feeling as if ice was flowing through his body. Taking a deep breath, he walked straight into the fire on the other side of the room.

Clearing the fire, he heard screams before he could see anything. As soon as his vision was clear, he glanced to see Quirrell and Harry grappling one another. Both were screaming loudly. Quirrell jumped off Harry, his arms giving off smoke. Taking the opportunity, Lethos raised his wand, shouting “Depulso!”. The banishing charm hit Quirrell straight in the face and he was flung far away from Harry. Lethos rushed to Harry’s side. The boy was still, unmoving, but Lethos breathed a sigh of relief when he felt Harry’s breath. He was just unconscious.

There was a whimpering sound, causing Lethos to glance up. “Master, I cannot move… Help me master...” Quirrell was whimpering as he lay curled up where he had landed. Lethos was speechless when he realised that a deformed face was protruding out of the back of Quirrell’s head.

“You’re Voldemort.” Lethos gasped.

“Yes. Yet I do not know who you are.” The head spoke back to him in a high pitched voice.

Lethos did not bother to reply. He raised his wand, intending to cast a reductor curse and hoping that he was still able to cast magic. Unfortunately, Voldemort was faster, and with a loud scream, the face literally flew out from Quirrell, flying off and away. Lethos looked back at the Defense Professor. The man’s eyes were blank now, unfocused. Drool spilled from his mouth as he lay limply on the ground. Voldemort had obviously not taken care at all when severing the link between them. Lethos didn’t need a doctor to know that Quirrell’s mind would never recover.

“Mr Reilly, it is truly a surprise to see you here.” Lethos turned, his eyes fixed on the one person that he was currently furious at. Albus Dumbledore stood at the entrance to the room, looking as if he had just arrived. Lethos got to his feet, and was about to launch himself at the Headmaster when Dumbledore held up his hand. “As much as we have to discuss, let us do so at a later time. For now, would you not agree that Harry needs medical attention?”

Cursing, Lethos grudgingly agreed, accompanying the Headmaster as he levitated Harry. Within minutes, they were in the Hospital Ward, where Madam Pomfrey was already attending to Ron and Hermione. “The last one for tonight, Madam Pomfrey. Aside from his minor physical scratches and scrapes, Harry has gone through a very mentally painful ordeal. He will require rest. When he awakes inform me and I will spend no more than five minutes to brief him.” Dumbledore said as he lay Harry on a hospital bed. Lethos was still tensed up, waiting to see what the Headmaster would do. Dumbledore then turned to look at Lethos. “Perhaps our conversation is best held in my office?”

Lethos followed the headmaster once again, but all the walking had given him the time to calm down. He knew that Snape had helped him against whatever orders Dumbledore had given to the potions professor, so he was glad for the chance to cool down so he wouldn’t end up accidentally revealing that information.

After following Dumbledore up to his office, Lethos had already prepared his line of questioning. “Why?” Was all he asked Dumbledore.

The older man looked at Lethos. “You are superbly sharp for your age, but before you jump to conclusions, contrary to what you may be thinking, I do not use Legilimency on my students.” Lethos blushed a bit when he said that. That was exactly what Lethos had thought. “Instead, what I do is no different from what you do. I observe those around me, the smallest details and deduce what I can by prompting others around me to talk more. Which is why, while I will respond to specific questions, I will not be answering any vague questions such as this.”

Lethos was surprised. He had expected that dealing with Dumbledore would be about the same as dealing with Snape. He had been wrong. Dumbledore was sharper. Changing tactics, he chose to be frank with the old man. “I just don’t like it when people manipulate others. You knew about Quirrell long ago. Those tasks you set, they weren’t for Quirrell. They were for Harry. You placed breadcrumbs for Harry to follow. Seeing the stone in Gringotts, Snape’s actions, the Mirror, sending Harry into the Forbidden Forest, choosing to let it be known that you were FLYING to the Ministry. You planned it all so he would tackle Voldemort head on.”

Dumbledore nodded. “I do not deny that.” Dumbledore seemed to pause for a moment, as if deciding if he wanted to continue speaking. After some time, he spoke. “Harry will be playing a great role in the future, and I intend to ensure he is well prepared for whatever comes his way.”

“So you will use him as a pawn? Placing other pieces around him to nudge him in the directions you wish him to move?” Lethos said. “To control his life from the shadows so he emerges as some warrior that you can send for battle?”

A dark look crossed Dumbledore’s face for a split second. “Do not presume to think I am doing this because I want to.” He said with a stern voice. “If there was any other way, I would take it, but this must be done, if not for anything but the Greater Good.”

Lethos shook his head. “You truly believe that it is Harry and no one else that can defeat Voldemort.” Dumbledore’s silence was enough of an acknowledgement. “Then why tell me all this? If I tell Harry all this, he won’t be your pawn anymore.”

“Because you won’t tell Harry this for the same reason I won’t. We both know what it feels like to have our childhood destroyed before it’s time. We both care enough that we do not want Harry to go through all this. If you tell Harry about me, he will ask you why, and you will not be able to answer that without shattering that peaceful childhood. Understand this, Mr Reilly. Harry Potter will be the one who will face off against Voldemort. Even if we choose to avoid the confrontation, Voldemort will hunt Harry down eventually, just like he did when Harry was a baby. Do you not think Harry should be well prepared for that?”

Lethos froze, but he knew that Dumbledore was right. He realised he could not bring himself to tell Harry all this at this moment. A couple of years down the road, maybe, but right now, he couldn’t tell Harry that he, an eleven year old boy, was the one who the Leader of the Light expected to face off against a Dark Lord! “I’ll get in the way, you know. Of whatever weird plans you may have.”

“I believe you will act in the best interests of Harry Potter, and I have witnessed enough of your character and achievements that I know you will do what is right.” Dumbledore replied.

Lethos got up and walked back toward the stone gargoyle, his face set. He had nothing else to say to the manipulative headmaster.

“Lethos,” Dumbledore called. Lethos stopped walking, but did not turn, afraid he may end up losing his control and cursing the headmaster. “I truly am glad there is someone who can remain beside Harry to keep him safe.” Lethos continued walking, his footsteps echoing down the staircase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you all think?  
> I know there's not much of action haha but like i warned in the summary, Lethos plays the role of a supporting character rather than an MC :)
> 
> One more chapter till the end! I've been taking a short break from writing to play the pokemon dlc which just came out but dont worry I've already drafted the first two chapters of Year 2!


	15. The Wrap Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The year closes on Lethos' first year at Hogwarts!  
> This is the last chapter, but i will be posting an author's note soon so you can anticipate what I have in store!

The next morning, Lethos went to find Harry together with Ron and Hermione. The four were not given a lot of time by Madam Pomfrey, but Harry and Lethos managed to get their individual stories out. Lethos glanced over at Harry when he mentioned how he thought Dumbledore had given him a chance to face off against Voldemort. The frankness of the way Harry had brought up the issue made Lethos realise that maybe he could share some of what he had talked with Dumbledore the night before, over the next year or so. For today, he was just glad that his friends were alive. They stayed as long as Madam Pomfrey allowed, before heading out of the Hospital Wing. Lethos waved goodbye to the first years as he walked off toward the dungeons.

He thought long and hard about whether he would be approaching the potions master to talk once again, and finally decided that it had to be done. Walking down to the dungeons, he found Snape in his office.

“Professor.” He greeted.

“Mr Reilly.” Snape responded.

The two stared at each other for a length of time. “Thank you for your help.” Lethos finally said.

Snape nodded. “The Headmaster has somehow seen fit to allow me to discuss certain matters with you. I presume you made an impression on him.”

“I simply called him out for the manipulator that he is.” Lethos replied.

Snape allowed a sneer to cross his lips. “And yet, are we all not manipulators?”

Lethos shook his head. “You and I, we use people only when we have to. Because we want to survive, or because we have no choice. Dumbledore-”

“Professor Dumbledore.” Snape interrupted.

“The Headmaster chooses to manipulate people even when there is simply no need to.” Lethos argued.

“And yet, you saw, whatever it was that came out of Quirrell that day. You know that the Dark Lord will be back. He knows of magic that even confounds Dumbledore sometimes. He will find a way back, even if he has to drag each piece of his body back part by part.” Snape said.

Lethos tried to shake away the very vivid imagery Snape had placed into his mind. “Yes, I know what I saw. I am just questioning the need for it to be Harry, an eleven year old boy, whom you hate, by the way, to take down this powerful wizard.”

“The Headmaster has his reasons.”

“Which you know.”

“Which I suspect.” Snape said. “Regardless, it is one of the topics I am not able to discuss with you.”

“Then, the thing about allowing Harry to catch you interrogating Quirrell, or intentionally getting bit by Fluffy and allowing Harry to see it. All his orders? He wanted Harry to think that you were the one stealing it?” 

“Not even I would dare to contest what goes on in the Headmaster’s head.” Snape responded. “I just did as I was told.”

“And saving Harry?” Lethos countered.

“A debt I had to repay, of which I have already done so.” Snape said.

“And next year? When the headmaster drags Harry into whatever convoluted plot there may be?” Lethos questioned. “Will you help Harry then? Will you continue to help me?” 

Snape simply turned back to his work, ignoring Lethos, who after a moment, took it as a cue to leave.

That night, Lethos came down to the common room, where he noticed Diana sitting comfortably on the sofa at the side of the common room. “You’re no longer disillusioned.” He commented to her.

She nodded. “With Dave and his ideology gone, I realised I no longer need to keep hiding. Honestly speaking, I started to disillusion myself cause I wanted to avoid being a target for the more enthusiastic bullies and now that they are all gone, me staying hidden just means that people whom I like talking to cannot find me.”

“I thought I was the only human who you liked talking to.” Lethos grinned.

Diana smirked back. “I miss the time when I could just leave you speechless by simply winking at you.”

Lethos intentionally refused to answer her. Instead, he reached forward, taking her hand and placing a small runestone in it. “The pager runestone I promised you.” He held up another one, sending his magic into it as the one in Diana’s hands started to hum. “I intend to figure out a way to put them into some kind of network so I won’t need to carry around too many, but at least for now, you can have this.”

Diana broke into a grin, holding up the runestone and looking carefully at it. Lethos continued talking. “It’s kind of useless over the holidays, since it can’t convey messages though, but I thought you might want something to help remind yourself of me while you’re at home.”

Diana suddenly turned to him. “As much as I love the present, are you not going to tell me what the heck that whole thing was about that night? Between you and those Gryffindor firsties. The rumors are rampaging all around the school but no one has a clue about what exactly happened.”

Lethos himself had heard the rumors and he realised that the only one who could have spread it would have been Dumbledore. Another of his manipulations. Lethos thought to himself. To Diana though, he grinned. “One of those stories is true,” he said slowly. “But I won’t tell you which.”

Laughing, he ran off, as Diana pulled out her wand, chasing after him with a few harmless jinxes.

The following night was the end-of-year feast, and Lethos was seated at the Ravenclaw table with Diana, Roger and Penelope. Slytherin was placed first in the House Cup, with Ravenclaw just five points behind them. Hufflepuff was third and Gryffindor was far behind, at one hundred and sixty five points behind Slytherin.

He was happily talking with Diana, who was still annoyed that he had refused to tell her the details about what had happened that night, when Dumbledore stood up. The Headmaster addressed the students for a moment, before revealing some stunning news. Moments later, the Gryffindors were jumping and cheering as Dumbledore awarded points to first Ron, then Hermione, and finally, Harry, for their actions that night. The Gryffindor table was loudly yelling and drinks were being tossed around(Lethos suspected the latter was likely the fault of the twins). They were tied with Ravenclaw now, both five points behind Slytherin.

Dumbledore held up his hand, and the whole school went quiet again. “Lastly, I would like to state that despite all the emphasis we place on House pride, the staff here at Hogwarts are always encouraged to see inter-House friendships and interactions. As much as we should foster bonds within our houses, I am heartened to see bonds formed even across houses. To Mr Lethos Reilly, whose belief in Mr Neville Longbottom impressed even the most stubborn of men, and to Mr Neville Longbottom, who believed in Mr Lethos Reilly enough to face your biggest fear, ten points to both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!”

Both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor jumped up, cheering. Neither had seen the cup in almost a decade and the idea of a joint win didn’t faze either of them.

Dumbledore clapped his hands and a mix of red and blue banners replaced the green ones. The serpent on a huge banner in the centre of the room turned into a lion and an eagle, both sharing the spotlight together. The Great Hall was in a total uproar as the majority of the students continued to cheer. Even the Hufflepuffs joined in with a storm of applause, celebrating the downfall of Slytherin.

Lethos looked over at the rowdy Gryffindor table and caught Neville’s eye, giving him a thumbs up. The boy looked overwhelmed by his housemates who were hugging him constantly. Lethos felt a bit bad for the snakes, but reminded himself that Ravenclaw would have still won if Snape hadn’t removed the ten points from him earlier in the year just for mentioning Harry’s name.

Glancing around at the Great Hall, the friends he had made in his own house, the connections he had with the four in Gryffindor, and -his heart did a small jig- the pretty girl who was currently clinging on to his arm, and who he currently owed a date over the summer holidays, Lethos was glad for that first day less than a year ago, when he came across an old, used book called the Tales of Beedle the Bard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look out for the Author's note next (hint: it comes with a preview of what will happen soon!)


	16. Author's Note

So Lethos has finished his first year in school! Once again, I would like to thank all of you who have been so supportive with me writing this. I wrote the first chapter in March when lockdown started, and then basically stalled there until all you amazing people in the Niffler dorm pushed me to continue writing and to actually publish this. Special thanks to Lillith for giving me that first encouragement to write, to Simone for posting yours on our chat so that I felt comfortable to actually post mine, to Twin who takes the time to write a comment and feedback for every chapter. It’s amazing! Of course to everyone else in the dorm who came to read, and gave me my first ever kudos on AO3.

I also want to thank PhoenixRaven over on HEX and NicoNightingale on AO3 for always commenting on the chapters :) Your comments really make me reconsider parts of the story I can improve, and it also keeps me inspired to write! Haha.

Ok, so to just address some stuff that has been brought up!  
Some people are asking about Lethos’ condition etc. We will be dealing with that slowly over the years so I won’t say too much but do look forward to it!  
Then the way I handled Dumbledore and Snape. I love Snape alot as a character, and I guess to a certain degree that affects the way I write him haha. However, as many many forums threads have discussed, one issue we see is that the Snape we all know is only portrayed in the eyes of Harry, and yes he has an insane hate for him. We don’t know how he treats those outside of Gryff, and while I stick to what I can rmb is canon(aka he’s known to be strict and not a good teacher, he’s not a complete asshole to people not named Harry Potter.) I also intend to reveal more connections in the future soooooo yep I really hope this gives you all a chance to see my insight into him.

For Dumbledore… truth be told, I’m not 100% pleased with the way that conversation went, but i had rewritten it almost 15 times and in the end I decided to go with this version. I’m not one of those who hate the man. In fact, I very much understand his ideology of greater good etc. I don't think he is evil, I just think he likes to manipulate people cause he doesn't trust others to do something as well as he can. I saw it as him recognising the care that Lethos had for the younger ones and had it reflected against his lack of care for Ariana, and so he clued in Lethos, so that he could conform Lethos to his plans, or allow Lethos to show him an alternate path taht he still is unable to see… But that balance just couldn't come through in the scene at all ill be honest. If one day I ever decide to look back at the scene and run it through again, hopefully I’ll be able to craft something better...

I am loving the fact that Diana has such a diverse reaction from those who commented/reviewed. Some love her and some hate her and that’s exactly what I was targeting for. I mentioned in an earlier comment that Diana was thought up as a character only halfway through, and truth be told I really havent decided if their relationship is going to work out, or if I should continue with my original pairing a few years down the road. Regardless, I am enjoying writing her to be as chaotic as possible and I’m looking forward to developing her as a central character as much as Lethos.

Finally, as a huge thank you for sticking through all the way, here’s a sneak peek at what will be going on when Lethos heads into Year Four! I will post the link for the story itself as a new chapter when I post it(Don’t worry, you don’t have long to wait, I’ve already started writing at the time of me writing this Author’s note haha.)

Title:  
The Lost Past  
Lethos and the Tonks family attempt to help solve the mystery of Lethos’ weird condition. As he digs deeper into the past, he discovers that he may actually have more links to the magical world than he originally had realised.  
All this while he has to balance his budding relationship with Diana, his friendship/mentorship with Neville and the heavy burden placed on him from what he discovered the year before. Not only that, he has to mediate a situation between a weird new Ravenclaw firstie and the remnants of Dave’s old regime.  
With all these things happening at the same time, will Lethos be able to properly balance everything? Or will he collapse and falter at the most crucial moment? Read on to find out!


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